Lazar Koliševski ( ; 12 February 1914 – 6 July 2000) was a

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

Yugoslav

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

political leader in the

Socialist Republic of Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

and briefly in the

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. He was closely allied with

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

Early years

Koliševski was born on 12 February 1914 in

Sveti Nikole Sveti Nikole ( ; meaning ''Saint Nicholas'') is a town in North Macedonia. It is the seat of Sveti Nikole Municipality and a center of a plain called Ovče Pole (''Plain of sheep''), famous for sheep farming, lamb meat, and dairy products of al ...

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

, into a poor family. His mother was an Aromanian, while his father was

Slavic Slavic, Slav or Slavonic may refer to: Peoples * Slavic peoples, an ethno-linguistic group living in Europe and Asia ** East Slavic peoples, eastern group of Slavic peoples ** South Slavic peoples, southern group of Slavic peoples ** West Slav ...

. According to Kosta Tsarnushanov, a MMTRO member and historian, his father was a '' Serboman''. In 1915, during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the

region of Macedonia Macedonia ( ) is a geographical and historical region of the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. Its boundaries have changed considerably over time; however, it came to be defined as the modern geographical region by the mid-19th century. ...

was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria. His father was mobilized on the

Salonica front The Macedonian front, also known as the Salonica front (after Thessaloniki), was a military theatre of World War I formed as a result of an attempt by the Allied Powers to aid Serbia, in the autumn of 1915, against the combined attack of Germa ...

, and during the war, both of Koliševski's parents died. Once left an orphan, he was taken by his aunts and sent to an orphanage. In 1928, he enrolled into a technical school in

Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the List of cities in Serbia, fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Se ...

, where left-wing activism flourished. Here, he befriended future Yugoslav politicians

Aleksandar Ranković Aleksandar Ranković (nom de guerre Marko, nicknamed Leka; sr-Cyrl, Александар Ранковић Лека; 28 November 1909 – 19 August 1983) was a Serbian and Yugoslav communist politician, considered to be the third most powerful ...

and Boris Mijoski. Koliševski became influenced by

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. He graduated from a trade school in Kragujevac in 1932 and worked as a

metalworker Metalworking is the process of shaping and reshaping metals in order to create useful objects, parts, assemblies, and large scale structures. As a term, it covers a wide and diverse range of processes, skills, and tools for producing objects on e ...

, while also joining the

League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia The League of Socialist Youth of Yugoslavia (SSOJ) was the youth movement, member organisation of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Yugoslavia (SSRNJ). Membership stood at more than 3.6 million individuals in 1983. It was originally est ...

. In 1935, he joined the

Communist Party of Yugoslavia The League of Communists of Yugoslavia, known until 1952 as the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, was the founding and ruling party of SFR Yugoslavia. It was formed in 1919 as the main communist opposition party in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats a ...

(CPY). He went to study at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

and worked as party secretary in Kragujevac and Smederevo Palanka before World War II.

World War II

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

forces entered

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

in April 1941,

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, a German ally, took control of a part of

Vardar Macedonia Vardar Macedonia (Macedonian language, Macedonian and ) is a historical term referring to the central part of the broader Macedonian region, roughly corresponding to present-day North Macedonia. The name derives from the Vardar, Vardar River and i ...

, with the western towns of

Tetovo Tetovo (, ; , sq-definite, Tetova) is a city in the northwestern part of North Macedonia, built on the foothills of Šar Mountain and divided by the Pena (river), Pena River. The municipality of Tetovo covers an area of at above sea level, wit ...

Gostivar Gostivar ( ; sq-definite, Gostivari) is a city in North Macedonia, located in the upper Polog valley region. It is the seat of one of the larger municipalities in the country with a population of 59,770, and the town also covers . Gostivar has ...

and

Debar Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majorit ...

became part of the Italian zone in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. After the Bulgarians had taken control of the eastern part of the former Vardar Banovina, the leader of the local faction of

, Metodi Shatorov had defected to the

Bulgarian Communist Party The Bulgarian Communist Party ( Bulgarian: Българска комунистическа партия (БΚП), Romanised: ''Bŭlgarska komunisticheska partiya''; BKP) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria f ...

(BCP). Koliševski was sent by CPY to Macedonia to replace the leadership of the Regional Committee, as well as challenge the influence of BCP. Koliševski conducted the policy of CPY in Macedonia. After the attack on the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

by Germany and the intervention of the

Comintern The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...

, the Macedonian communist movement fell into the hands of the Yugoslav Macedonians led by him, who was pro-Serbian. He also had the task of organizing an armed resistance. In September 1941, Koliševski became the Secretary of the

Regional Committee of the Communists in Macedonia The Regional Committee of Communists in Macedonia was the provincial communist organization in Vardar Macedonia from 1939 to 1943. History At the beginning of 1939, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia decided that Vardar ...

. After the communist attack on the Bulgarian police station in

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

on 11 October, he was arrested a month later in

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

and sentenced to death by a Bulgarian military court. Koliševski's personal Bulgarian prison card in 1941 listed his nationality as Bulgarian. He wrote two appeals for clemency to the Bulgarian tsar and to the defense minister. In the appeals, he wrote that he had a Bulgarian origin. These documents are stored in the Bulgarian military archive in

Veliko Tarnovo Veliko Tarnovo (, ; "Great Tarnovo") is a city in north central Bulgaria and the administrative centre of Veliko Tarnovo Province. It is the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Often referred to as the "''City of the Tsars''", Velik ...

. Later, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and Koliševski was sent to a prison in

Pleven Pleven ( ) is the seventh most populous city in Bulgaria. Located in the northern part of the country, it is the administrative centre of Pleven Province, as well as of the subordinate Pleven municipality. It is the biggest economic center in ...

, Bulgaria. However, after the

fall of communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

, when these documents became widely known, Koliševski denied making any appeals for clemency or admission of guilt personally. He claimed that his plea for mercy was written by his lawyer, but in relation to the death sentence of the then Bulgarian military courts, existed only the opportunity to submit personally signed "appeal for clemency". According to the Yugoslav politician Antun Kolendić, Koliševski vainly denied these facts, while he became familiar with these documents in 1946. In 1943, he was elected in absentia as a delegate of the

Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,; ; commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberative and legislative body that was established in Bihać, Yugoslavia, in November 1942. It was established by Josip Broz T ...

, secretary of the Central Commitee of the Communist Party of Macedonia (later League of Communists of Macedonia/LCM), and in 1944 as a delegate of the

Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia (, ''Antifašističko sobranie za narodno osloboduvanje na Makedonija''; Serbo-Croatian: ''Antifašističko sobranje narodnog oslobođenja Makedonije''; abbr. ASNOM) was the supr ...

. He was released from prison in 9 September 1944 when the Fatherland Front took over in Bulgaria. He soon became the president of the Communist Party of Macedonia, a branch of the

. In mid-April 1945, Koliševski became the Prime Minister of the Federal State of Macedonia, a federal unit of the

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, also known as Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (DF Yugoslavia or DFY), was a provisional state established during World War II on 29 November 1943 through the Second Session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the Natio ...

(DFY). Koliševski was awarded with the

Order of the People's Hero The Order of the People's Hero or the Order of the National Hero ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Orden narodnog heroja, Oрден народног хероја; , ), was a Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Yugoslav gallantry medal, the ...

Order of People's Liberation The Order of People's Liberation or Order of National Liberation ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Orden narodnog oslobođenja, Орден народног ослобођења; ) was a decoration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the fifth-highest d ...

and

Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour Order of the Hero of Socialist Labour ( / , , ) was the fourth highest state decoration awarded in Yugoslavia.

Yugoslavia

In mid-September 1944, Yugoslav leader

sent

Svetozar Vukmanović Svetozar Vukmanović - Tempo ( sh-Cyrl, Светозар Вукмановић - Темпо; 3 August 1912 – 6 December 2000) was a leading Montenegrin communist and member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. D ...

and him to Sofia to meet with the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communist Party to discuss the Macedonian Question. They blamed the Bulgarian communists for their actions during the war in Macedonia and demanded a union of

Pirin Macedonia Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia () (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya''), which today is in southwestern Bulgaria, is the third-biggest part of the geographical region of Macedonia. This part coincides with the borders of Blag ...

with the new Yugoslav Macedonia. On 16 April 1945, he became the first President of the Executive Council of the People's Republic of Macedonia. Under his leadership, hundreds of

Macedonian Bulgarians Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians (), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of ethnic Bulgarians, inhabiting or originating from the region of Ma ...

were killed as collaborationists in January 1945. Thousands of others, who retained their pro-Bulgarian sympathies, suffered severe repression as a result. After

Metodija Andonov-Čento Metodija Andonov-Čento (; ; 17 August 1902 – 24 July 1957) was a Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian revolutionary, Macedonian Partisans, partisan, statesman, the first president of the Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of M ...

's incarceration in November 1946, he also initiated the purging of real or alleged Čentovites and Cominformists from the party and government. During his leadership, LCM was also committed to Yugoslav centralism. The communist Macedonian leaders were declared atheists but they still saw the importance of religion and church in the construction of a nation. In 1946, he was a member of the Presidium of the National Constituent Assembly. He became a candidate member of the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the highest organ of the central committee in communist parties. The term is also sometimes used to refer to similar organs in socialist and Islamist parties, such as the UK Labour Party's NEC or the Poli ...

of the LCY in 1948 at the Fifth Party Congress. He was elected a member of the LCY CC's Executive Committee and a member of the presidency at the Sixth and Seventh Congresses. In 1953, he became the president of the Assembly of the People's Republic of Macedonia. He set the stage for Macedonia's negationist history and in his 1962 work ''Aspects of the Macedonian Question'' (), he minimized Bulgarian influence and maximized Serbian influence on Macedonian history. In the 1960s, he went with Tito to eight North African countries as part of a delegation on a diplomatic mission. From 1979 to 1980, Koliševski served as the vice president of the Presidency of Yugoslavia. On 4 May 1980, Koliševski succeeded Tito after his death and held the office of head of the presidency of Yugoslavia for ten days, when the office passed on to the former President of the League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cvijetin Mijatović Cvijetin "Majo" Mijatović ( sr-cyr, Цвијетин Мајо Мијатовић; 8 January 1913 – 15 November 1993) was a Yugoslav communist politician who served as President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1980 to 1981. He also ser ...

Republic of Macedonia

After the

breakup of Yugoslavia After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1980s, the constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990s. Unresolved issues from the breakup caused a series of inter-ethnic Yugoslav ...

, Koliševski lived in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, the capital of the newly-proclaimed

Republic of Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, and opposed the anti-Serbian and pro-Bulgarian policy of the ruling right-wing party,

VMRO-DPMNE The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (), abbreviated as VMRO-DPMNE (), is a conservative and the main centre-right to right-wing political party in North Macedonia. It was establ ...

, in the late 1990s. Nationalists in

demanded that he be hanged. He died on 6 July 2000. Shortly after, his personal archive of 300,000 documents was given to the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2002 a monument of Koliševski was erected in his birthplace by the left-wing local government. Krste Crvenkovski and Slavko Milosavlevski challenged the belief that he had a significant role in the communist resistance during World War II.

References

External links