Andon Kyoseto

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Andon Kyoseto, born Andon Lazov Yanev in 1855 in the village of Golozinci in the Ottoman Empire, was a Bulgarian revolutionary and a member of IMARO (Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization). His life and actions are viewed in very different ways in North Macedonia and Bulgaria: some see him as a hero, others as a mass killer.

He grew up as a shepherd with little schooling. After his father was imprisoned and died, Kyoseto helped support his family. He worked as a servant and, in a self-defense incident, fled to Thessaloniki. There, Dame Gruev invited him to join IMARO, and Kyoseto began carrying out assignments for the organization. His early acts included killings, and he often acted under the organization’s guidance rather than on his own.

In Thessaloniki he was the cabman for Hristo Tatarchev, the head of IMARO in the city, which helped him move around. He is said to have arranged the murder of his own brother, Nikola, at the order of the organization. He also took part in the killing of a Serbian teacher in Thessaloniki and of a pro-Greek and pro-Serbian local named Tsitso. Some claims about additional killings exist, but some historians doubt them; one such tale appears in later memoirs and is not supported by all sources.

Kyoseto and his allies were active in various fronts, including the Miss Stone Affair in 1897, when two Protestant missionaries were kidnapped; he helped secure and later release the women. During the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising, he transported a detachment from Sofia to Prilep. He fought in battles such as the one at Skačinci in 1903.

In the mid-1900s Kyoseto continued to work with other leaders like Gotse Delchev and Mihail Apostolov Popeto. He married in 1906 and turned more to farming, though he kept ties with Sandanski and remained connected to revolutionary activities. He was involved in various arrests and releases, and his career included both militant actions and periods of official permission.

In 1912 he participated in operations around Bansko during the Balkan Wars and later settled in Blagoevgrad (formerly Gorna Dzhumaya). He remained involved with Macedonian-Adrianopolitan veteran circles and, in 1934, joined their society in Gorna Dzhumaya.

After World War II, Kyoseto lived in a region where Bulgarian and Yugoslav leaders discussed the status of Macedonian identity. He sent a greeting to Macedonian leaders in 1948 and expressed hope for a unified future. He died on 10 September 1953 in Blagoevgrad.

Kyoseto’s memoirs were recorded by Boyan Mirchev in 1931 and published in parts later. For decades, his place in history was controversial in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia, where he was sometimes labeled anti-Macedonian. As attitudes shifted in the 2010s, books, monuments, and public debate renewed focus on his legacy. A monument to Kyoseto in Skopje became a flashpoint: placed in 2014, removed in 2018, and discussed for reinstatement in subsequent years. In July 2025, a monument was returned to a location in front of a hotel.