Dimitrija Čupovski

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dimitrija Čupovski

Born	November 8, 1878(1878-11-08) Papradište (Veles), Ottoman Empire, (now Republic of Macedonia)
Died	October 29, 1940 (aged 61) Leningrad, Soviet Union (now Russian Federation)
Occupation	Lexicographer and philologist

Dimitrija Čupovski (Macedonian: Димитрија Чуповски) (November 8, 1878, Veles–October 29, 1940, Leningrad) was a Macedonian textbook writer and lexicographer.

[edit] Early years

Dimitrija Čupovski was born on November 8, 1878, in the village of Papradište in the outskirts of Velesin the Ottoman Empire, (now Republic of Macedonia). Before Čupovski was born, his father had been killed by Albanian mercenaries. When he was 10 years old his village was burned, he and his family then settled in Kruševo, the birth place of his mother. Since learning the painting trade, he and his brothers left for Sofia in search of work. In the capital of the newly established Kingdom of Bulgaria Čupovski worked during the day and visited the school organized by Dame Gruev, Petar Pop Arsov and other students. After that he continued his education in Belgrad and Saint Petersburg

He was one of the founders of the of the Macedonian Literary Society, established in Saint Petersburg in 1902, and served as its president from 1902 to 1917. He was also the author of a large number of articles and official documents, publisher of the printed bulletin of the Macedonian Colony, and organiser of several Macedonian associations, he wrote verse both in Russian and Macedonian. He produced the first Macedonian-Russian dictionary, worked on a Macedonian grammar and an encyclopaedic monograph on Macedonia and the Macedonians. He also drew up an ethnic and geographical map of Macedonia.

In the period 1913-1918, Čupovski published the newspaper "Македонскi Голосъ" (Macedonian Voice) in which he and fellow members of the Petersburg Macedonian Colony propagandized the existence of a separate Macedonian people which is different from the Greeks, Bulgarians and Serbs, and were struggling for popularizing the idea for an independent macedonian state.

Dimitrija Čupovski is considered as one of the most prominent ethnic Macedonians in history and as one of the most important actors of the ethnic Macedonian awakening.