References - Part 05

When the Pravoslav civil war ended Basil decided it was time to terminate his three year treaty with Samoil, which lasted from 987 to 990 AD. War broke out in 990 AD and lasted until 994 AD during which time Basil captured and destroyed a number of Samoil's strongholds. In retaliation, in late 994 AD, Samoil prepared a siege against Solun during which Gregory Taronites, the city’s Governor, was killed. Gregory died while attempting to rescue his son, Ashot, who had been ambushed during a reconnaissance mission. When Basil found out, he was furious and sent Uranus, his Supreme Commander from the west, to investigate. Uranus discovered that not only had Samoil besieged Solun, but he had been plundering the surrounding countryside. He had also been campaigning in Thessaly, Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus. Upset by the situation, Basil ordered Uranus to attack Samoil and put an end to his free reign.

Uranus immediately went in pursuit of Samoil but found the River Spercheius swollen from a flash flood. Unable to cross he camped on the river’s bank. As it happened, Samoil's army had also made camp nearby but on the opposite side of the river. Upon his discovery that Samoil was close by, Uranus went in search of and found a safe place to cross. During the night he made the crossing and attacked his sleeping adversary. Being unprepared, Samoil's army was devastated and both Samoil and his son were badly wounded and barely managed to escape.

Victorious, Basil demanded that Samoil surrender. Instead of surrendering Samoil fled to his capital. To convince Basil not to pursue him, Samoil agreed to sign a peace treaty and offered his surrender in writing. But instead of surrendering Samoil had himself proclaimed King. What Samoil really wanted was the crown of an emperor but the Pope of Rome, Gregory V, had no intention of creating another Emperor. Samoil could have taken the Bulgar crown, but unfortunately that crown was also in Tsari Grad and out of reach. So, all that Samoil could legally hope for was a mere king’s crown. Even though Samoil’s crown was not recognized by Tsari Grad, his coronation gave him international recognition. For the Pope of Rome, this was another chance to erode and weaken Pravoslav rule.

When Basil found out that Samoil was crowned king he became furious and once again dispatched Uranus to destroy him. Unable to engage Samoil in battle, Uranus went on a looting spree burning everything in his path. After three months of mayhem and destruction Uranus failed his mission and returned to Tsari Grad empty handed.

Safe, at least for now, Samoil took the opportunity to marry another daughter, Miroslava, to Ashot, Gregory’s son from Solun whom he had previously captured. As a wedding gift he gave the newlyweds Governorship of Dyrrachium with king Vladimir’s full approval. The ungrateful Ashot, however, fled to Tsari Grad and for his loyalty was awarded the title of Magistrate, by the Pravoslavs. In the meantime his wife, Miroslava, became a lady-in-waiting at the Tsari Grad court. Soon after Ashot fled, the city leaders of Dyrrachium broke off relations with Vladimir and surrendered their city to the Pravoslavs.

In retaliation and hoping to stir trouble for Basil in Tsari Grad, Samoil began a propaganda campaign promoting Vatatz, a family member from the Basil Glavas family as his ally. The Basil Glavas family and a number of other nobles had taken refuge with Samoil to avoid persecution from Basil.

Instead of creating trouble, Samoil’s actions further infuriated Basil prompting him to initiate a new military offensive. Taking a route via Philippopolis, Basil destroyed most cities in the region of Serdica. In the year 1000 he dispatched a large army and attacked all fortified cities, capturing Great and Little Preslav and Pliska, near the River Maritsa. In 1001 Basil himself joined the offensive and marched his army by Solun in the direction of Berroea, where he captured Dobromir. Basil then captured Kolidron, near Berroea, and put Servia under siege. In spite of Servia’s brave resistance, the city fell into Basil's hands anyway. Nikolitsa, Servia’s Governor, was taken captive to Tsari Grad but instead of being thrown in jail, Basil conferred upon him the honour of a patrician. Nikolitsa, however, was not satisfied and fled to Samoil and together they attacked Servia. Basil retaliated and again captured Nikolitsa but this time he conferred upon him the honour of serving in chains in exile in his jail in Tsari Grad.

After subduing Servia, Basil took his campaign to Thessaly. He took back and made repairs to the damaged fortresses which Samoil’s troops had held. He then refortified the fortresses with fresh Pravoslav garrisons. After that he turned his attention to Voden and took the city by force from the aggressive Governor Drazhan. Drazhan was captured and sent to Solun as Basil’s prisoner. Upon his arrival in Solun, Basil dispatched Uranus to Antioch to deal with the Arabs. Uranus was replaced with the patrician David Arijant as Solun’s new military commander.

In 1002 Basil made his way to Vidin and after an eight-month siege he broke through the defenses and captured the town. On the same day Samoil forced marched his troops through Thrace, looting and trashing Endrene (Adrianople). If Samoil’s intent was to get Basil’s attention by trashing Endrene, he succeeded. Basil now moved his campaign to Skopje, where he caught up with Samoil. Unexpectedly Samoil fled without a fight and Skopje’s governor surrendered the city to Basil. From Skopje, Basil took his campaign to the fortress of Pernik where he encountered heavy resistance from the great warrior Krakras. Basil failed to take the town and incurred great losses in the process and was forced to return to Tsari Grad.

As if Samoil did not have enough problems with the Pravoslavs he now made the Hungarians angry. His son, who was married to a Hungarian princess, decided to leave her thus bringing disgrace to his family and an end to the cordial relations between Samoil and King Stephen I. After the embarrassing incident, King Stephen abandoned his alliance with Samoil and joined Basil who had offered him an alliance of his own.

In the recent past, Pravoslav attacks and plundering of Samoil's territory were more frequent and of greater intensity. Samoil felt it was time do something and soon. His chance came in 1014 when Basil’s forces were about to enter a gorge in the Rhodope Mountains. Samoil surrounded the gorge with a strong force in what was going to be a surprise attack. Unfortunately Basil must have anticipated Samoil’s move and ordered one of David Arijant’s generals to force march his troops around Samoil’s forces. When a fierce battle broke out between Basil and Samoil, Samoil's army was

attacked from the rear and trapped. Unable to withdraw, many of Samoil’s soldiers were slain and even more were captured. Samoil himself was saved by his son who aided his escape to the fortress of Prilep.

After his victory Basil rounded up all his prisoners and had his soldiers gouge their eyes out. According to accounts there were fifteen thousand Macedonian soldiers captured that day. To lead the blind soldiers back to Samoil, Basil ordered that one out of every hundred men be left with one eye intact. This was indeed a gruesome act, a real tragedy not only for Samoil but for Macedonia as well. Shaken by the sight of this tragedy Samoil died of shock two days later. Samoil’s son Gabriel Radomir succeeded him.

When Samoil died in 1014, his kingdom was vast and included the whole of Macedonia (except for Solun), Thessaly, Epirus, the coastal sclavenes of Oiocleia, Travunya and Zachlumia, the Neretva region (excluding the islands) as far as Cetina, Serbia, Bosnia and a considerable part of Bulgaria. For the most part, the majority of the population living in Samoil’s empire was Macedonian with large Slav pockets south of Olympus down to the Peloponnesus. To a lesser extent there lived Bulgars, Serbs, Croats, Romani, Albanians and Vlachs. Additionally there lived migrants such as Vardariot Turks and Armenians who were recently settled there by former Pravoslav emperors and some by Samoil. While many Armenians existed in Thrace, Samoil had also settled some in Pelagonia, Prespa and Ohrid. The Romani were known to exist mostly in coastal regions.

Samoil’s kingdom was a newly created state with a completely different nucleus of people and with completely different domestic and foreign policies than any of his neighbours. The center of Samoil’s state was in the far south of the Balkans, inside today's Republic of Macedonia. Samoil had a number of capitals, which he used from time to time. During his reign Samoil moved his capital to several places including Prespa, Ohrid, Prilep, Bitola, Pronishte and Setin, all of which were inside Macedonia.

Sandanski - Iane Sandanski (1872-1915)

Iane Ivanov Sandanski was born on May 28th, 1872 in the village Vlahi near Melnik. After finishing primary school Sandanski went to work as a shoemaker’s apprentice.

In 1892 he was drafted in the 13th infantry regiment in Kiustendil and became a soldier.

After his release he became an apprentice in his Uncle Spas Harizanov’s law firm. He then became warden of the Dupnitsa prison where he worked for a couple of years. He was also a member of the local educational society and subsequently became its librarian and president.

Even though Sandanski was active all his life and held the position of president of the Revolutionary Committee in the Seres District and fought in the Ilinden 1903 uprising, he actually became famous much later. He was not one of the initial founders of IMRO. He was however loyal to the Macedonian cause and came from a family of revolutionaries. His father Ivan was a participant of the Kresna Uprising.

Before his initiation into IMRO, Sandanski came into contact with several of its members including Dimo Hadjidimov, Giorche Petrov and later Gotse Delchev, who enlisted him in its ranks.

Sandanski was a patriotic Macedonian and in addition to fighting against the Turks he fiercely fought against the Greeks and Bulgarians. He particularly detested the Bulgarian Vrhovists who several times made attempts to assassinate him. Since the early 1890’s the Vrhovists sought out Sandanski and in September 1902 they fought him in battle and lost. Victorious, Sandanski pushed them back and allowed the Turkish army to finish them off. By his victorious exploits of the Vrhovist detachments, he became known as the “Tsar of Pirin”.

The Central Committee’s betrayal in Solun, by the Vrhovists, took a toll on IMRO’s leadership. While most of the central leadership was arrested and sent into exile in Asia Minor, Sandanski managed to avoid capture and remained active.

Unfortunately the collapse of the Central Committee robbed Sandanski and his Cheta of the necessary funds to remain active and forced him to look for funds elsewhere.

Sandanski became world famous when he kidnapped and ransomed Miss Ellen Stone, the American missionary. Initially Miss Stone was uncooperative and detested her condition but as she became acquainted with the plight of her captors she voluntarily and personally made sure the ransom was paid in full.

After the Miss Stone affair, Sandanski’s popularity rose and he became head of the Seres Revolutionary District.

After the 1903 Ilinden rebellion the Turkish army was determined to destroy IMRO, but Sandanski escaped and remained active in the Pirin Region. Many of the revolutionary fighters and Chetas who lost their own leaders joined up with Sandanski and remained active for a long time.

By 1905 Sandanski’s forces had repealed Vrhovist incursions and were in control of the Pirin District.

After the death of Dame Gruev and Nikola Karev, Sandanski became a leading factor in the IMRO leadership, a natural successor to Delchev, and began negotiations with the Young Turks for agrarian reforms in Macedonia.

By 1908 the Young Turks had taken control of Macedonia and had released all political prisoners. Then, with support from Sandanski’s Cheta, they attacked and successfully took Tsari Grad, the Ottoman capital.

For Sandanski’s help, the Young Turks promised to implement reforms that would redistribute lands in favour of the poor Macedonian peasants. To make sure the Young Turks would deliver on their promises, Sandanski had devised a plan of his own termed the “Nevrokop Programme”.

To ensure the land reforms were put in place according to agreements, Sandanski requested that he personally be given the

task of organizing a peasant militia to supervise the implementation. Unfortunately, while Sandanski’s proposals were widely accepted by the Macedonian peasants, they attracted negative attention abroad. The first to complain were the Greeks; “The consequences of Sandanski’s plan, as unfortunately confirmed by events, would be terrible (for us). Unless something else, like a war, or an agreement between the European Powers, settles the Macedonian question in our favour, it is my opinion that there can be no doubt that settlement of the agrarian question would create possibilities for the final settlement of the Macedonian question”.

Sandanski’s move for cooperation with the Young Turks was a radical departure from IMRO’s policies (seizure of power by revolutionary means). To take advantage of the new situation and stay on course, IMRO created an offshoot branch dubbed the “National (or Peoples’) Federative Party” (NFP). The NFP was officially launched in early 1909 and worked with (pressured) the Young Turk regime to develop a quasi-parliamentary system and to preserve the national and territorial integrity of Macedonia within an Ottoman Federation.

By the time the NFP was organized and ready to deal with the issues at hand, the Young Turk regime was losing momentum and stagnating. By then it was obvious to IMRO that without “grass roots” support from the Turkish establishment, the Young Turk regime was fighting a losing battle. Its rise to power resulted from a coup and the regime itself was no more than a “dictatorship”. The Young Turk regime could no longer maintain a hold on power and on July 13, 1912 capitulated to the Sultan.

After the Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian invasions of Macedonia and for his help in evicting the Turks, on December 12th, 1912 Sandanski called on the so called liberators to give Macedonian its promised autonomy. The Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian occupying armies, however, instead of granting autonomy began to pursue Sandanski and his men at gunpoint. Sandanski resisted and stayed active in the Pirin Region until his assassination in 1915 by Bulgarian agents. On April 22nd, 1915, while traveling from Melnik to Nevrokop, near the Rozhen Monastery, armed assassins sent by King Ferdinand of

Bulgaria attacked and killed Sandanski, ending his illustrious career as a Macedonian revolutionary.

References: Page 273, Michael Radin, IMRO and the Macedonian Question. Pages 35-37, Macedonian Magazine, # 523, November 1996. Pages 9-10, Macedonian Magazine, # 486, October 1993. Pages 6-7, Macedonian Magazine, # 264, April 1975. Pages 10-11, Macedonian Magazine, # 252, April 1974.

Shapkarev - Kuzman Shapkarev (1834-1909)

Kuzman Shapkarev was born into a poor family of craftsmen in Ohrid on February 1st, 1834. After finishing primary school he went to secondary school but even though he was a bright and capable student, he had to quit because his family could no longer afford to pay for his education. His career, however, took off when he was offered a teaching job to replace his uncle. From then on he spent the next thirty years or so teaching in various Macedonian towns including the cities of Bitola, Ohrid, Struga, Prilep and Kukush. While teaching, Kuzman became acquainted with the Miladinov brothers and shared his love and passion for Macedonian folk art with them. Through his dealings with them Kuzman met and married Dimitar Miladinov’s daughter.

Kuzman was an avid student of Macedonian folk art and through his thirty-year career he collected a great number of folksongs, folk poetry, Macedonian customs, old tales, sayings etc., enough to write and publish eight textbooks.

Kuzman was an excellent ethnographer and the most prolific collector and publisher of Macedonian folk literature. He used the Ohrid dialect to compose his works. He was often the subject of attack by Bulgarian philologists and social scientists.

Kuzman Shapkarev died in Sofia in 1909.

References: Pages 148-150, Macedonian Almanac, 1988. Page 25, Macedonian Magazine, # 453, January 1991.

http://www.cybermacedonia.com/kuzmansa.html

Shiperkov - Pando Shiperkov (1921-1948)

Pando Shiperkov was born on January 10th, 1921 in the village Smrdesh, Kostur, Region. After finishing primary school he went to work as a tailor’s apprentice in Hristo Kalea’s tailor shop in Smrdesh. Here Shiperkov was given an opportunity to meet with people from all walks of life and learn more about progressive ideas which were popular in those days.

During the German, Italian and Bulgarian occupation of Greek occupied Macedonia, Shiperkov was determined to join the fight for liberation. In June 1941 he attended an anniversary gathering in Lokva Region, which was held to commemorate a great battle that took place in 1903 between the Turkish army and the Macedonian Cheti. During this battle thirteen revolutionaries heroically lost their lives, some were from Smrdesh. Here Shiperkov met with others like himself who shared his ideas.

On July 1st during an annual traditional gathering in the local Smrdesh Church, Sveti Vrach, Shiperkov and a group of antifascists openly challenged the Bulgarian lies and propaganda that were being spread in Kostur Region. The religious gathering turned into a brawl when the Bulgarian emissaries ordered their Italian carabineros to open fire on the protesters. Shiperkov and his antifascists, however, bravely stood their ground and refused to be intimidated.

In early 1943 a number of Partisans from Smrdesh initiated the formation of a Partisan organization inside Smrdesh and by mid-1943 they began to recruit fighters in what came to be known as the “Lazo Trpovski” detachment. Its first commander was Naum Peiov and its first political emissary was Dimitar Shiskovski.

In the spring of 1943 the Lazo Trpovski detachment became part of the second Cheta, in the second battalion of the 28th regiment of the National Peoples’ Liberation Army (ELAS).

Shiperkov fought in every battle in which the 28th regiment was engaged, under the command of Aristotelis Huturas-Arianos. Some of the most important fights Shiperkov took part in included; disarming the armed brigadiers, breaking the German positions at Bigla and Vicho and capturing and disarming German agents who had been armed and spread throughout the Lerin, Kostur and Korcha Regions.

Even though Macedonian fighters voluntarily contributed immensely in the drive to oust the occupiers from Greece, the Greek Communist and ELAS leaderships in Kostur still treated the Macedonians as subordinates and with suspicion. As a sign of protest, a group of thirty Macedonian fighters from the second battalion of the 28th regiment broke off from ELAS and in May 1944 crossed over the border and joined the Macedonian Partisans in Yugoslavia.

On May 20th, 1944 in the village Seltse, just below Karaorman, Macedonians from Kostur region formed the first all Macedonian political party. Shiperkov was one of the first to join.

On June 8th, 1944 in the village Lokovo, the first Macedonian assault brigade was formed under the command of Vangel Shukalovski and Nikola Todorovski-Kaninski (political commissar) and was joined by fighters from Lerin and Kostur Regions. During the second half of June, 1944 another group of forty-five Macedonians abandoned ELAS and joined the first Macedonian assault brigade. Towards the end of June the fighters from Kostur region formed a separate all Macedonian battalion. This was the first and largest Macedonian Partisan unit consisting solely of fighters from Greek occupied Macedonia. Atanas Koroveshov led the unit with Pando Shiperkov as the political commissar of the second Cheta within the battalion.

During the first half of July 1944, under agreement between the Macedonian and Greek Communist Party leaderships, the well armed Kostur battalion returned to Kostur Region to drive out the occupiers. Shiperkov and his associates demonstrated willingness and determination in the fight to liberate their homeland and in the fight for freedom, democracy and equal rights.

On August 2nd, 1944 in the liberated village Pozdivishcha, Kostur Region, a separate Macedonian battalion was formed and named “Gotse” in honor of Gotse Delchev. The founding nucleus of this fighting force came from the battle hardened fighters from Karaorman. The Gotse battalion became part of the 18th regiment in the 9th division of ELAS. Shiperkov retained his position as political commissar of Gotse and fought in every battle in which the battalion was engaged. During one battle, in the village Zelenich, he received a wound in the leg.

Towards the end of September 1944 new misunderstandings began to develop between the Macedonian Partisans and the Greek leadership (Greek Communist Party and ELAS). In early October ELAS ordered Gotse to disband but found stiff opposition among the Macedonian fighters who again chose to cross over into Yugoslavia instead of surrendering to the Greeks. There they joined the Macedonian forces as part of the 49th division of the Peoples’ Liberation Army of Macedonia.

With the arrival of the newly acquired fighters from Kostur and Lerin Regions in Graezhnitsa, Bitola Region, a separate battalion was formed under the command of Atanas Koroveshov and political commissar Pando Shiperkov. After regrouping the battalion again returned to Kostur Region and continued the fight against the occupier and the ELAS leadership. Unfortunately the Macedonian battalion’s presence in Greek occupied Macedonia was unwelcome and short-lived. After finding itself at odds with the Greek ELAS leadership, it again left Greece for Yugoslavia. This was Shiperkov’s third departure from his homeland due to Greek aggression.

By now the Bitola Region had been freed from the occupiers and Macedonians from Greece were regrouping under a new brigade. The First Peoples’ Liberation Shock Brigade was exclusively formed with fighters from Greek occupied Macedonia. Shiperkov, in the role of political commissar, was dispatched to put down remnants of the occupier’s allies, the Balist bands, which at the time were roaming Gostivar, Tetovo and Kichevo Regions.

In May 1945 after the First Brigade was disbanded, Shiperkov was given a job in the Yugoslav army in Gevgelija, as Captain first class. In the spring of 1946 Shiperkov, at his own request, was discharged from the Yugoslav army and in July he joined the People’s Liberation Front in Greek occupied Macedonia, at Mount Vicho. This time he was fighting a new enemy, the Greek rightist Monarchists and their British interventionists.

In November 1946 after the re-unification of Macedonian and Greek Partisan forces, Shiperkov was appointed commander of the joint Democratic Army of Greece (DAG) headquarters in Vicho. Towards the end of 1947 when the DAG headquarters was reorganized, Shiperkov was given command of a battalion which subsequently experienced much action around Vicho and Gramos and fought in the battles of Neveska, Lerin, Lundzer, Preseka, Sorovich, Embore and others.

During the first Peoples’ Liberation Front congress, Shiperkov walked in as a delegate but left as an elected member of its general staff. Unfortunately, while leading his battalion into battle near the Church Sveti Ilija, between the villages Grashe and Papratsko in Kostur Region, a piece of artillery from nearby enemy cannon fire exploded near him and ended his life.

Pando Shiperkov died on March 8th, 1948.

Reference: Pages 80-89, Tasko Mamurovski, Svetli Likovi od Egeiska Makedonija (1945-1949).

Sugarev - Giorgi Sugarev (1876-1906)

Giorgi Sugarev was born in 1876 in the village Paralovo, Bitola Region. While attending the Bitola Gymnasium he came into contact with many teachers who were also Macedonian revolutionaries and joined the Macedonian Secret Revolutionary Organization (TMRO). After completing his education Giorgi went to teach in the Strezhevo and Radobor villages and later in the larger schools in Bitola.

Giorgi used his occupation as cover for his covert revolutionary activities which he considered of primary importance.

In 1899 he was sent to the village Ehlovets near Kichevo and the following year he taught in the village Sveti Vrach, also located near Kichevo. Although his post in these villages was not long, it was of importance. After the destruction of the Organization in Kichevo, Sugarev became the sole contact with leaders of the Bitola revolutionary district.

After the establishment of the district Cheta, Sugarev joined voluntarily and stayed with it until the summer of 1901. During his stay the Cheta patrolled the villages around Bitola, Demir Hisar, Kichevo and Krushevo. The experience, along with Rusinski’s expertise (Rusinski was educated in military tactics at the University of Sofia), taught Sugarev a great deal about warfare and military tactics.

After his short stay with the Cheta, Sugarev returned to Bitola and resumed his teaching duties and covert revolutionary activities. His return was coincidental with the expansion of the Organization to which he offered his services as a talented agitator and a capable organizer. His reputation caught Damian Gruev’s attention, who at the time was serving a prison sentence in the Katiljane prison in Bitola. Gruev requested that the local leadership of the Bitola District fall to Giorgi Pop Hristov and Giorgi Sugarev. Sugarev was appointed leader of the Bitola group.

On November 20th, 1901 Sugarev was placed in charge of security while Gotse Delchev spent a couple of weeks meeting with delegates and the people of Bitola District.

With Delchev’s departure, the Organization set out to work with renewed vigour and began to expand and arm its Cheta. Unfortunately its activities did not go unnoticed and one day its headquarters were raided and a number of men were captured. In February 1902 a local informer named Josif, from the village Zhabiani, revealed the Organization’s activities and as a result a great number of the fighters were imprisoned. The Turks went after

Sugarev but he shot his way through them and escaped. Others also managed to escape and with them Sugarev formed a new Cheta. Using his prior experience and the military tactics he learned from Rusinski, Sugarev, together with Atse Trajkov, successfully rebuilt the Cheta.

Not long afterwards the Cheta was betrayed again. In Sugarev’s absence, while patrolling the village Charlia, the entire Cheta was surrounded by the Turkish army and annihilated. Only Petre Mogilcheto managed to escape. Sugarev at the time was ill and was not with the Cheta.

This was the second time this happened and the TMRO leadership decided it was time to teach the traitors a lesson. Sugarev was given the task of finding and executing them, which he promptly did. TMRO was not just a local organization that could be toyed with and by his actions Sugarev silenced the traitors and brought law and order to the villages.

In 1903, during the Smilevo congress, Sugarev was one of the delegates to represent the Bitola District. After the congress the Bitola District was divided into three units. Sugarev was appointed leader of one of the units and began preparations for the rebellion.

The rebellion started as planned on August 2, 1903 in Pelister Region. Sugarev, in Botola, did his part and liberated the villages Dolentsi, Srptisi and Tsapari. The next day he took the Derven Pass between Bitola and Resen and attacked a Turkish convoy carrying food and munitions.

Unfortunately as the days progressed, the Turks brought reinforcements, artillery and began to bomb the liberated villages, killing and displacing civilians. For some time Sugarev and his Cheta were busy making plans to take care of the refugees. After they were done Sugarev took his Cheta to the defense of Smilevo, where he was confronted by Nazaer Pasha and his troop of 1,200 soldiers. Overwhelmed, Sugarev’s Cheta fought gallantly but was unable to turn the tide and was forced to withdraw. As a result the

villages were set on fire and the innocent population suffered extensive reprisals.

When the rebellion was put down, Sugarev stayed in Macedonia and remained true to his beliefs and ideals for which he was again betrayed and paid with his life.

On his way from Stranshte to the village Grumazi, while passing through the Chukarite Pass, Sugarev and his Cheta were expected and surrounded by a superior force of Bashibuzuks (armed Muslim civilians). The battle lasted from eight to eleven in the morning and the entire Cheta was annihilated.

Sugarev was betrayed to the Turkish authorities by foreign agents who could not tolerate his ideals of a free and independent Macedonia. Giorgi Sugarev died in April 1906.

References: Pages 96-103, Macedonian Almanac, 1988. Page 113-115, Macedonian Almanac, 1976.

Toshev - Pere Toshev (1865-1912)

Pere Toshev was born in 1865 in the town Prilep. He received his primary and lower grades of education in his hometown Prilep and his higher education in Bitola, Solun and Plodvid.

As a young man Pere’s greatest wish was to meet some of the old revolutionaries. His wish came true in 1883 when he was attending school in Solun.

Pere could not complete his education in Solun so he had to go to Plodvid. He was expelled from Solun because he, together with some classmates and his friend Giorche Petrov, took part in a protest against the use of the Bulgarian language in the Macedonian schools. For that they were all expelled. After finishing his education in Plodvid, Pere went to Bitola to pursue a teaching career.

During the years 1889 to 1891, while Giorche was still teaching in Skopje, Pere proposed that they work together and plan the

liberation of Macedonia. Pere had already made plans with his other colleagues in 1894/95 to form the nucleus of a future organization that would take charge of the Prilep, Bitola, Ohrid, Resen and Kichevo districts.

Pere was the first president of the Bitola district committee.

Together with Giorche, Pere published the newspaper “Na Oruzhje” (To Arms), which helped to promote the organization’s aims towards the liberation of Macedonia.

Pere was a member of the Solun Central Committee and, together with Ordan Piperkata, formed the first Bitola district Cheta.

In his role as Area School Inspector, Pere was influential and very effective in stirring national sentiments in the Macedonian people. This caught the attention of the Bulgarian sponsored Vrhovists, who did not want Macedonia to become independent, and they informed on him to the Turkish authorities. Pere, as well as all those associated with the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization’s Central Committee, became a target of the well-known Vrhovist Garvanov and his henchmen of the Bulgarian Brotherhood.

In what became known as “The Solun Affair” in 1901, Pere Toshev, along with about three-hundred of his revolutionary associates, were arrested, jailed and sentenced to 101 years imprisonment. This notorious Turkish sentence would keep Pere Toshev locked-up in the Podrum Kale in Asia Minor for eighteen months until he was released as a result of the general amnesty issued as part of the “Padar Reforms” in February 1903.

After his release, at the request of Giorche, Pere went to Sofia but did not find the welcome he expected. During a meeting in Sofia he protested the Solun decision to have an early uprising because he believed it was too soon and the Macedonians were not ready.

He left Bulgaria and illegally arrived in Prilep just before the Smilevo congress was over. Unable to change the situation he accepted the leadership’s decision to start the rebellion.

During the August 2nd, 1903 Ilinden rebellion, Pere Toshev joined forces with Atsev and Rusinski and together held the mountainous region in the Prilep District.

After the Ilinden rebellion Pere stayed in Macedonia and faced the Turkish consequences together with his fellow Macedonians. After the November 1905 Rila Congress, Pere again became a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization’s central committee. He was a supporter of the left.

Pere was in Solun during the start of the Young Turk uprising but later had to go to Sofia to treat a stomach ailment.

In 1912, at the outbreak of the first Balkan War, he returned to Macedonia only to witness his beloved country, to which he dedicated his life to liberate, become again subjugated and divided. He was a wanted man in Macedonia so he came with a fake passport but the Vrhovists who kept track of his movements, tipped off the Turkish authorities and they were expecting him.

Pere suspected treachery when he was warned by his associates not to go home but he was tired of running and hiding. In response he said, “For me there is no greater happiness than to leave my bones in my own homeland.”

Turkish soldiers killed Pere Toshev at Drenovska Klisura, in Prilep Region, on May 4th, 1912 during an ambush. His body was buried in the cemetery of the village Farish.

Reference: Pages 16-17, Macedonian Magazine, # 506, June 1995.

Trajkovski - Boris Trajkovski (1956-2004)

Boris Trajkovski was born on June 25, 1956 in Monospitovo, Strumitsa, SR Macedonia, Yugoslavia, and died on February 26, 2004 at age 47 in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was a Macedonian associated with the political party VMRO-DPMNE and was married to Vilma Trajkovska. He was a Methodist by religion.

Boris Trajkovski was the president and Supreme Commander of the Republic of Macedonia from 1999 to 2004.

Trajkovski was born into a Methodist family. His father, Kiro, who died in September 2008, was a land worker who had served in the Bulgarian Army and had been imprisoned for two years for feeding prisoners of war. Trajkovski graduated in 1980 with a degree in law from the St. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje. He subsequently specialized in commercial and employment law and made several visits to the United States, where he studied theology to become a Methodist lay minister.

After he finished his studies, the Communist government confined him for a time to a remote village owing to his religious activities. There he took care of an impoverished Roma parish of the Evangelical Methodist Church of Macedonia, connected to the United Methodist Church. Following political liberalization in the 1980s, he went on to head the legal department of the Sloboda construction company in Skopje. He served as Methodist youth secretary in the former Yugoslavia for over 12 years. Later he was President of the Church Council of the Macedonian Evangelical Methodist Church. From 1988 he took part in the ongoing Youth Exchange programme between the Methodist Church of Macedonia and the Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead Methodist Circuit in England. In 1991 he studied English at a Christian Language College in Bournemouth, England.

Trajkovski became active in politics following Macedonia's declaration of independence from Yugoslavia in November 1991, when he joined the VMRO-DPMNE party. He played an important role in developing the party's relations with other European political parties and was appointed Chairman of the party's Foreign Relations Commission. In 1997, he became the Chief of Staff of the Mayor of Kisela Voda, a municipality in Skopje. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs on December 21, 1998 but served in this post for less than a year.

Largely because of his reputation as a moderate reformist, Trajkovski was selected as VMRO-DPMNE's candidate for president in the November 1999 election held to replace the

outgoing president, Kiro Gligorov. In the presidential election held on November 14, 1999, Trajkovski defeated Tito Petkovski by 52% to 45%. He was scheduled to take office just five days later, on November 19, but because the results were disputed, parliamentary chairman Savo Klimovski became acting president until Petkovski's supporters lost their last appeal a month later.

Trajkovski's term was marked by tensions between ethnic Macedonians and the republic's ethnic Albanian minority. The aftermath of the Kosovo War led to months of violent armed clashes between Macedonian security forces and Albanian rebels seeking improvements on their status as a legitimate minority and generally better economical, administrative and legal conditions. Although his powers were limited and his role largely ceremonial, he presided over a NATO-brokered peace deal in 2001 that ended the violence and prevented a full-blown civil war in Macedonia. He was seen as a moderate in the ethnic dialogue, arguing for greater inclusion of ethnic Albanians, and has been credited with being a key figure in resolving the conflict. Boris Trajkovski's close friend and advisor was his chief of staff Zoran Jolevski, who later took the role of Macedonian Ambassador in the United States of America and the negotiator of the Macedonia name dispute.

In 2002, Trajkovski was awarded the World Methodist Peace Award by the World Methodist Council for his role in promoting peace and political stability.

Trajkovski died on February 26, 2004 in a plane crash en route to an economic conference in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The aircraft crashed in thick fog and heavy rain on a mountainside in southeastern Herzegovina, near the villages of Huskovici and Rotimlja some eight miles (15 km) south-south-east of Mostar. Eight other people were also aboard but none survived the impact, which broke the aircraft into three pieces. It came down in an area that had been heavily mined during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, which significantly hampered the rescue and recovery efforts.

Although the cause of the crash is not known, it seems likely that it was the result of a controlled flight into terrain, possibly exacerbated by alleged mistakes made by the SFOR air traffic controllers at

Mostar Ortiješ International Airport. The approach to the airport's Runway 34 has been criticized by pilots for being difficult to handle, and as the runway is not equipped with precision landing systems, it is especially challenging in bad weather. The crash is not the first major air accident to kill a politician in southern Herzegovina: on April 3, 1996, the United States Secretary of Commerce Ronald Brown was killed while en route from Bosnia to Croatia.

After his death there was a State Funeral in his honour and on his gravestone is the verse from the Bible "Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the sons of God."