John Bitove, Sr.

John Bitove
Born John Louis Nicholas Bitove
(1928-03-19)March 19, 1928
Toronto, Ontario
Died July 30, 2015(2015-07-30) (aged 87)
Toronto, Ontario
Occupation businessman
Children John Bitove
Awards Order of Canada

John Louis Nicholas Bitove, Sr., CM (March 19, 1928 – July 30, 2015) was a Macedonian Canadian businessman.[1]

Biography

Early life

Bitove was born Lazar Nikola Bitov,[2] in Toronto to Macedonian immigrants Nicholas and Vana.[3] His parents immigrated to Canada after World War I in 1919 from Gabresh (today Gavros), a village located in the Kastoria region of Macedonia (Greece).[4]

Business career

John Bitove, Sr. built, operated and developed many restaurants across Canada, including the JB's Big Boy Family Restaurants and Roy Rogers Restaurants. In 1983, a company of which he owned 50% (York County Quality Foods) was awarded the food and beverage catering contract at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. In 1987 he obtained the catering rights to Toronto's SkyDome, now Rogers Centre and in 1989, he merged his existing companies to form the Bitove Corporation, at that time one of Canada's largest privately held food service companies. In 1989 he was made a member of the Order of Canada.[5]

He was director of several companies, including Oppenheimer & Co. He also organizes, and is involved in, many charitable activities, most notably the founding of Canadian Macedonian Place, a home for the aged people of Macedonian descent in Canada[6] as well as ProAction, a partnership with the Metropolitan Toronto Police to fund programs in high-risk youth areas of Toronto.[7]

The library of the University of Western Ontario Law School is named after John and Dotsa Bitove.[8]

Political activity

In the early 1990s, John Bitove founded an International Macedonian Lobby to assist the newly procaimed Republic of Macedonia on its efforts for international recognition. As a result, former advisors of two United States presidents and one Canadian prime minister were hired to lobby foreign governments, as well as the European Community and the United Nations, to recognise the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign and independent state. At the same time, Bitove formed the first World Macedonian Congress, an organisation created to promote the interests of the Republic of Macedonia and the ethnic Macedonians throughout the world.[9] John Bitove provided significant financial resources to the United Macedonian Diaspora, and has spent "millions of dollars" for the promotion of the Republic of Macedonia's interests.[10] He also supports and promotes the United Macedonia, an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia into a single state with the Greek city of Thessaloniki as its capital.[11]

Personal life

He was married to Dotsa and had five children — Vonna, Tom, Nick, John and Jordan. He died in Toronto in July 2015.[12]

References

  1. ↑ Bitove, John (28 September 2007). "Recognition for Macedonia". National Post. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  2. ↑ в-к "Македония", брой 24, 21 юни 1994 г.
  3. ↑ Robertson, Grant (28 March 2008). "Meet John Bitove". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. ↑ Cowan, Jane K. (2000). Macedonia: The Politics of Identity and Difference. London, UK: Pluto Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-7453-1589-5. John Bitov [sic] is a successful businessman now living in Toronto. Of Macedonian origin, he hails from the village of Gavros, Kastoria prefecture.
  5. ↑ "John L.N. Bitove, C.M.". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Ristovska, Liljana (16 November 2006). "Gala Raises $1.3 Million for Scholarships and Canadian Macedonian Palace". Canadian Macedonian News. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Our Story". ProAction Cops & Kids. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  8. ↑ "John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  9. ↑ Loring M. Danforth, The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World], Princeton University Press, 1997, p.101.
  10. ↑ United Macedonian Diaspora’s Companions - A Distinction of Honor, umdiaspora.org
  11. ↑ John Bitove Sr. interviewed on YouTube by Metodija Koloski, president of the United Macedonian Diaspora.
  12. ↑ "Businessman John Bitove Sr. dies at age 87". Toronto Sun.
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