Petar Zdravkovski – Penko (November 4, 1912,

Prilep Prilep ( mk, Прилеп ) is the fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 and is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko. Name The name of Prilep appear ...

, Ottoman Empire – July 26, 1967

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

) was a Yugoslav educator, statesman, diplomat.

Biography

Petar Zdravkovski - Penko was born on November 4, 1912, in

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He graduated from the Teachers College in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where he became involved in the students' and workers' Socialist movement. After graduation he worked as a teacher in the villages of Grnčarevo and Podmočani near Resen. He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and after the occupation of then Vardar Banovina he took part in the preparations for the armed resistance in

. He was jailed and after a long interrogation he was interned in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. In the spring of 1943 he returned to Vardar Macedonia, and in the autumn of the same year he joined the armed partisan forces in Debarca. After the Second World War he was appointed to various political functions: teacher at the Party High School in Skopje, Chief of the Press Department of the Government of the People’s Republic of Macedonia (PRM); head of Radio Skopje (1947-1949); Secretary General of the PRM Government (1949-1950), member of the Executive Council of PRM; Minister of the Council of Education (1957-1962); Minister of the Council for Science; member of the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Central Committee. As Minister of Education, he was President of the Council of the University in Skopje.

Diplomatic career

He was fluent in French and had a working knowledge of English, Russian and Turkish. He started his diplomatic career as a

minister plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

(rank of ambassador) to the Yugoslav diplomatic mission in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

(1950-1953). He was appointed chief of staff of the Department for Foreign Affairs in Belgrade (1953-1954) and

consul general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

to Marseilles,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

(1954-1957). In 1965 he was appointed ambassador of

(also accredited to Jordan), where after a short illness he died in 1967. He was buried with high state honors in the Alley for Distinguished Citizens in the Butel cemetery in Skopje.

Decorations

He was awarded many national and international decorations:Saso Dodevski, 65 Years Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia 1944-2009, (translated by Saso Kocarev) Prosvetno delo, Skopje, 2009, In the

Butel Butel ( mk, Бутел, sq, Butel) is a neighbourhood in the city of Skopje, North Macedonia, and the seat of Butel Municipality Butel Municipality ( mk, ; sq, Butel) is one of the ten municipalities that make up the City of Skopje, the ca ...

municipality in

Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...

an elementary school bears his name. A street in the city of

bears the name Penko Zdravkovski.

Biography

Diplomatic career

Decorations

See also

References

Further reading