Ivan Hadzhinikolov

Ivan Atanasov Hadzhinikolov (, ; December 24, 1861 – July 9, 1934) was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, teacher and bookseller. He was among the founders of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO) on October 23, 1893.

Biography Ivan Hadzhinikolov was born in Kukush, Ottoman Empire, on December 24, 1861. He received elementary and secondary education in Kukush, Plovdiv and Svishtov. Then Hadzhinikolov graduated in higher education at commerce in Linz. In June 1892, he met with Kosta Shahov and Gotse Delchev in Sofia and discussed with them his idea of founding a revolutionary organization in Ottoman Macedonia. The meeting occurred in his house. He claimed that he was the first person to have considered an organization like IMRO, writing that it was established to "neutralize the foreign propaganda in Macedonia", especially the "activities of the Serbian agitators" (Serbian propaganda), and preserve the "Bulgarian national feeling in Macedonia". According to historian Mercia MacDermott, leading members of IMRO, such as him and Dame Gruev, were initially perceived by the Exarchists as "vagabonds", however as the Organization increasingly attracted youths, the Exarchists changed their policy and attempted to seize control of the Organization. to Ivan Garvanov, who became the new leader of the Organization. Subsequently, he was arrested by the Ottomans and sent into exile in Bodrum Castle in Asia Minor. After the Ottoman amnesty in 1903, he settled in Sofia. He supported the decision to start an uprising in 1903.

After the wars, he was a representative of the Thessaloniki Brotherhood at the Constituent Assembly of the Union of Macedonian Emigrant Organizations, held in Sofia from November 22 to 25, 1918. On July 9, 1934, he committed suicide in Sofia. He is considered a Macedonian by the historiography in North Macedonia.