The country observes Friday the Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle – October 23. On this day in 1893, the Internal Macedonian Odrin Revolutionary Organization (VMORO) was founded in Thessaloniki, with the aim of achieving autonomy for Macedonia through revolutionary struggle.
The culmination of VMORO’s activities was the organization of the Ilinden Uprising in 1903 in Macedonia, and the Preobrazhenie Uprising in the Adrianople region of Thrace.
The foundations of the Organization were laid on November 5, 1893 (October 23rd according to the old calendar), in the home of the bookseller Ivan HadzhiNikolov in Thessaloniki. Present at the founding meeting were: Dr. HristoTatarchev, a physician originally from Resen; Dame Gruev, a teacher from the village of Smilevo(Bitola region); Petar Pop Arsov, a teacher from the village of Bogomila (Veles region); Ivan HadzhiNikolov, a bookseller in Thessaloniki originally from Kukush; Anton Dimitrov, a teacher from the village of Ajvatovo (Thessaloniki region); and HristoBatandzhiev, a teacher from the village of Gumendzha (Enidzhe Vardar region).