Portal:Republic of Macedonia/Selected Biographies

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Krste Misirkov (born 1874 in the historic village of Pella in Aegean Macedonia (modern day Greece), died in Sofia, 1926), was the most prominent Macedonian publicist, philologist and linguist who set the principles of the Macedonian literary language at the beggining of the late 19th century.

His opinions on the political and national issues of his time carry the proof of the struggle of the Macedonian intellectuals and their contribution to the fight for the liberation of the Macedonians and the creation of an independent Macedonian state. In 1903 he published the book "Za Makedonckite Raboti" ("On Macedonian Matters") in which he laid down the principles of the modern Macedonian language.

One of his most famous quotes is:

"Yes, Macedonian culture and history are quite separate from Greek, Bulgarian, and Serbian culture and history; they have never been the object of an impartial and detailed study. The Greeks, Serbs, and the Bulgarians most unfairly took from Macedonian culture only what they could make use of for the glory of their own national names; ignoring facts of capital importance either because they did not concern them, or because they contradicted their own national aspirations. Unfortunately, the Macedonians themselves are only now beginning to study Macedonian history, having realized, towards the end of last century, that they could no longer trust the historians of Athens, Belgrade or Sofia..."