![Vasil Ivanovski Golovrade](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Vasil_Ivanovski_Golovrade.jpg)
Vasil Atanasov Ivanovski (Bulgarian: Васил Атанасов Ивановски; 18 October 1906, Golovrade – 1991,
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
) also known by his pseudonym Bistrishki, was a Bulgarian communist activist, publicist, "theoretician of the Macedonian nation" within the
IMRO (United)
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (1925–1936) (Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация - обединена, ''Vatreshna makedonska revolyucionna organizatsiya - O ...
. According to the
historiography in North Macedonia
Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the Germans, German historian it has ...
, Ivanovski is its founder and a prominent "fighter for the affirmation of the Macedonian national identity", and according to the Bulgarian historiography, he is known "for his wanderings on the Macedonian question". Per the
Macedonian
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...
historian
Ivan Katardžiev
Ivan Katardžiev ( bg, Иван Катарджиев; mk, Иван Катарџиев) (January 6, 1926 – December 1, 2018) was a Macedonian historian. He was regarded as the country's most important expert on the Internal Macedonian Revolutio ...
, such activists of the IMRO (United) and the
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...
never managed to break with their
pro-Bulgarian
Bulgarophiles ( bg, българофили; Serbian and Macedonian бугарофили or бугараши ; ; ro, Bulgarofilii) is a term used for Slavic people from the regions of Macedonia and Pomoravlje who are ethnic Bulgarians. In Bulga ...
aspirations.
Biography
Ivanovski was born on October 18, 1906, in the former
Kastorian village of Golovrade, then in the
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) ...
. Together with his family, Ivanovski emigrated to Bulgaria after WWI. He graduated from a high school in
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
. Later Ivanovski was a tobacco worker, trade unionist and left-wing political activist, and since 1923 a member of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP). He took part in the
September Uprising
The September Uprising ( bg, Септемврийско въстание, ''Septemvriysko vastanie'') was a 1923 communist insurgency in Bulgaria. The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) attempted to overthrow Alexander Tsankov's new government e ...
, that aimed for the "establishment of a government of workers and peasants" in Bulgaria. In 1926 he emigrated to the
USSR
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
(Odessa and Tbilisi). In September 1927 he was sent to study at the
in Moscow, graduating in 1932. In the early 1930s he became close to several Yugoslav communists from
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia ( Macedonian and sr, Вардарска Македонија, ''Vardarska Makedonija'') was the name given to the territory of the Kingdom of Serbia (1912–1918) and Kingdom of Yugoslavia (1918–1941) roughly corresponding to t ...
, as
Malina Popivanova
Malina Popivanova (April 7, 1902, Kočani, Ottoman Empire – July 19, 1954, Tyumen, USSR) was a prominent Macedonians (ethnic group), Macedonian communist.
Personal life
Popivanova joined the revolutionary movement when she was very young and st ...
, who influenced him to accept the idea that the Macedonian Slavs were not
Macedonian Bulgarians
Macedonians or Macedonian Bulgarians ( bg, македонци or македонски българи), sometimes also referred to as Macedono-Bulgarians, Macedo-Bulgarians, or Bulgaro-Macedonians are a regional, ethnographic group of eth ...
, but a separate nation. Ivanovski returned to Bulgaria in 1933, when he became a member of the IMRO (United). At that time, members of the Comintern sponsored
IMRO (United)
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) (1925–1936) (Bulgarian: Вътрешна македонска революционна организация - обединена, ''Vatreshna makedonska revolyucionna organizatsiya - O ...
, put for the first time the issue of the recognition of a separate Macedonian nation.
After the adoption of the
Resolution of the Comintern on the Macedonian question in February 1934 on the existence of a separate Macedonian nation, Ivanovski, together with the IMRO (United), took
Macedonist
Macedonian nationalism (, ) is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts among ethnic Macedonians that were first formed in the late 19th century among separatists seeking the autonomy of the region of Macedonia from the Ottoman Emp ...
positions. In an article written under the name "Why we Macedonians are a separate nation" in the spirit of
Stalin's theory of the nation he argued for the existence of a Macedonian nation and a Macedonian language. There Ivanovski declared many historical figures, including such from the Middle Ages, as
ethnic Macedonians
Macedonians ( mk, Македонци, Makedonci) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identif ...
. His article caused shock among the Bulgarian public and even among some members of the BCP and the IMRO (united). Per him the Macedonian revivalists considered themselves subjectively as Bulgarians, but objectively, their activity followed an agenda of a creation of a distinct Macedonian nation. Within an extramural discussion in the press with some Bulgarian historians Ivanovski accused them of being “bourgeois". At the political trial in Sofia against IMRO (United) members in 1936, he was sentenced to 5 years in prison. In 1941 he went underground. In 1942 he was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison. From 1943 he served his sentence in
Idrizovo
Idrizovo ( mk, Идризово, sq, Idrizovë) is a settlement in the outskirts of the city of Skopje within the Municipalities of North Macedonia, municipality of Gazi Baba Municipality, Gazi Baba, Republic of North Macedonia.
Demographics
Acc ...
, Skopje region, then in Bulgaria. In prison, Ivanovski created his major work called ''The Macedonian Question in the Past and Today'', which is an attempt to present "the history of the Macedonian people" from antiquity to the present, through the prism of Marxist philosophy. With this work, he became the founder of the modern
Macedonian historiography
Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the German historian it has preserve ...
.
On June 20, 1944, he managed to escape from the Idrizovo prison and joined the
Macedonian Partisans
The Macedonian Partisans, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia, sh, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Makedonije was a communist and anti-fascist resistance movement formed in occupied ...
. He participated at the First Meeting of
ASNOM
The Anti-fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia ( mk, Антифашистичко собрание за народно ослободување на Македонија (АСНОМ), ''Antifašističko sobranie za narodno oslo ...
. When the
Nova Makedonija
''Nova Makedonija'' ( mk, Нова Македонија, "New Macedonia") is the oldest daily newspaper in the Republic of North Macedonia. It was established with decision of the presidium of ASNOM and published by NIP Nova Makedonija.
History ...
newspaper was founded, Ivanovski was elected its first editor-in-chief. He was also Deputy Minister of Social Welfare in the newly created
SR Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia ( mk, Социјалистичка Република Македонија, Socijalistička Republika Makedonija), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia or Yugoslav Macedonia, was ...
. In his 1944 work “On Unifying the Macedonian People”, Ivanovski presented the idea that ASNOM's legislative decisions set the foundations of the first Macedonian State ''since the medieval state of
Tsar Samuil
Samuel (also Samuil; bg, Самуил, ; mk, Самоил/Самуил, ; Old Church Slavonic: Самоилъ; died October 6, 1014) was the Tsar (''Emperor'') of the First Bulgarian Empire from 997 to 6 October 1014. From 977 to 997, he was ...
''. The ASNOM formed a committee to standardize a literary Macedonian language and
Macedonian alphabet
The orthography of the Macedonian language includes an alphabet consisting of 31 letters ( mk, Македонска азбука, Makedonska azbuka), which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelli ...
, where he participated. In 1945 he opposed the pro-Serbian and anti-Bulgarian policy of
Lazar Koliševski
Lazar Koliševski ( mk, Лазар Колишевски ; 12 February 1914 – 6 July 2000) was a Yugoslav communist political leader in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and briefly in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was clos ...
. He accuses Kolishevski, who tried to convince his comrades that the convening of ASNOM on August 2, 1944, was wrongly related with the
Ilinden Uprising Ilinden (Bulgarian/ Macedonian Cyrillic: Илинден) or Ilindan ( Serbian Cyrillic: Илиндан), meaning "Saint Elijah's Day", may refer to:
Events
* Republic Day (North Macedonia), 2 August
Geographic locations Bulgaria
* Ilinden, Blagoev ...
, which was a Bulgarian conspiracy and declared the
IMRO
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; bg, Вътрешна Македонска Революционна Организация (ВМРО), translit=Vatrešna Makedonska Revoljucionna Organizacija (VMRO); mk, Внатр ...
revolutionary
Gotse Delchev
Georgi Nikolov Delchev (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian/Macedonian language, Macedonian: Георги/Ѓорѓи Николов Делчев; 4 February 1872 – 4 May 1903), known as Gotse Delchev or Goce Delčev (''Гоце Делчев ...
a "Bulgarian irrelevant to Macedonia." In a letter to the leader of the Bulgarian communists
Georgi Dimitrov
Georgi Dimitrov Mihaylov (; bg, Гео̀рги Димитро̀в Миха̀йлов), also known as Georgiy Mihaylovich Dimitrov (russian: Гео́ргий Миха́йлович Дими́тров; 18 June 1882 – 2 July 1949), was a Bulgarian ...
Ivanovski announced the de-Bulgarization by the codification of the new alphabet and the new literary language and expressed his concern at the violent methods used to create the new Macedonian nation.
At the end of 1945 fully disappointed by the
Yugoslav communists
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...
he returned to Bulgaria and worked in
Pirin Macedonia
Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia ( bg, Пиринска Македония; Българска Македония) (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya'') is the third-biggest part of the geographical region Macedonia located on t ...
. There Ivanovski became an active participant in the state policy of
Macedonianization of the local population. He became head of the agitation and propaganda department at the
Central Committee
Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...
of the Bulgarian Communist Party and chairman of the Central Macedonian Initiative Committee. For a period of some years then the Yugoslav and Bulgarian Communist leaders worked on a project to merge their two countries into a
Balkan Communist Federation
The Balkan Federation project was a left-wing political movement to create a country in the Balkans by combining Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.
The concept of a Balkan federation emerged in the late 19th century from ...
and to merge Bulgarian and Yugoslav Macedonia to a
United Macedonia
United Macedonia ( mk, Обединета Македонија, ''Obedineta Makedonija''), or Greater Macedonia (, ''Golema Makedonija''), is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region ...
. After the
split between Tito and Stalin in 1948, a gradual change of that policy came in Bulgaria. In 1949 Ivanovski was dismissed from the Central Committee and expelled from the Party and subsequently arrested by the Bulgarian authorities. During the political trial against
Traycho Kostov
Traicho Kostov Djunev ( bg, Трайчо Костов Джунев; 17 June 1897, Sofia – 16 December 1949) was a Bulgarian politician, former President of the Council of Ministers and Secretary of the Central Committee of the Bulgarian Communis ...
, he was accused of being a Tito's spy. Ivanovski was sentenced to 12 years of imprisonment and loss of civil rights for 15 years. After seven years in prison, in 1956 he was rehabilitated and released. After his release in 1958 at a plenum of the
Bulgarian Communist Party
The Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP; bg, Българска Комунистическа Партия (БКП), Balgarska komunisticheska partiya (BKP)) was the founding and ruling party of the People's Republic of Bulgaria from 1946 until 198 ...
the decision was taken that the Macedonian nation and language did not exist. Later Ivanovski lived in isolation in
Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
where he died in 1991.
[Разгледи, Том 39, Броеве 1 – 7, Нова Македонија, 1996, стр. 281.]
See also
*
Historiography in North Macedonia
Historiography in North Macedonia is the methodology of historical studies used by the historians of that country. It has been developed since 1945 when SR Macedonia became part of Yugoslavia. According to the Germans, German historian it has ...
*
Macedonian literary circle
Footnotes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ivanovski, Vasil
1906 births
1991 deaths
People from Kastoria (regional unit)
People from Salonica vilayet
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (United) members
Bulgarian Communist Party politicians
Bulgarian expatriates in the Soviet Union
Bulgarian communists
Bulgarian educators
Bulgarian emigrants to Yugoslavia
League of Communists of Macedonia politicians
Bulgarians from Aegean Macedonia
Bulgarian Comintern people
Macedonian Bulgarians
Macedonian politicians
Macedonian historians