References - Part 01

References:

1. Former Macedonian president Kiro Gligorov dies, charlotteobserver.com, 2 January 2012 2. The European powers in the First World War: an encyclopedia, Spencer Tucker, Laura Matysek Wood, Taylor & Francis, 1996, ISBN 0-8153-0399-8, p. 150. 3. Interview, "Utrinski vesnik" daily newspaper, issue 1497, August 31, 2006 Skopje, Republic of Macedonia 4. Gligorov became president on January 27, 1991, when the official name of the country was still Socialist Republic of Macedonia -On This Day - Macedonian Information Agency, see: 1991: The official change of the state's name (Macedonian) 5. Home - Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso 6. a b c d "11th anniversary of assassination attempt on Gligorov, perpetrators unknown". MRT. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-10-22. 7. "Погребан претседателот Глигоров" (in Macedonian). 3 January 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2012.

"http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Kiro+Gligorov">Kiro Gligorov</a>

Gruev - Damian Gruev (1871-1906)

Damian (Dame) Gruev was born on January 19th, 1871 in the village Smilevo, Bitola Region. He was educated in Bitola, Solun, Belgrade and Sofia.

Gruev came into prominence in 1888 during the student revolt in Solun. He was one of the main organizers of the student protests against the use of the Bulgarian language in Macedonian schools. He voiced his discontent for the assimilatory tactics, deception and propaganda the Bulgarian State was using in Macedonia. He demanded that Bulgarian be replaced by the Macedonian language in Macedonian schools.

For taking part in the protests, many students, including Gruev, were expelled from the Solun Gymnasium. After the expulsion Gruev and his associates and close friends left Solun for Belgrade to continue their education. Unfortunately, there too they found themselves surrounded by anti-Macedonian Serbian propaganda and a Serbian

desire for a “Greater Serbia” to include Macedonia. Within a year and a few months, they left Belgrade and went to Sofia to continue their education. There too they were greeted with new disappointments and persecutions.

In 1889 Gruev enrolled in the Faculty of Philosophy in Sofia and took a course in history. At the same time he was clandestinely working for the Macedonian cause.

Gruev left Bulgaria in 1891 and returned to Bitola where he and his like minded associates began to lay the foundation of an organization of “pure revolutionary character”.

Gruev, along with some of his closest associates like Peter Pop Arsov and others, was one of the key initiators of the “Association” which in time became the “Young Macedonian Academic Association” which in January 1892 began to print the famous revolutionary publication “Loza” (Vine).

Using Loza, written in the Macedonian language, the “association” aspired to create a single Revolutionary Organization intended to eventually liberate Macedonia and the Macedonian people, not just from the Turks but also from foreign intervention.

In mid 1892 Gruev went to Solun to take a job as proofreader in Kone Samardziev’s printing house. There he met up with his old school chums and associates; Petar Pop Arsov, A. Dimitrov, Dr. Hr. Tatarchev, Iv. Hdzhi Nikolov, Hr. Batendzhiev and others. Together they began drafting the makings of a constitution for the new organization.

The new organization became a reality on October 23rd, 1893 and came to be known as the “Tajna Makedonska Revolutsionerna Organizatsia” (TMRO) (Secret Macedonian Revolutionary Organization) (later named IMRO) and the members that formed it became its “Central Committee”. Gruev was elected secretary of the central committee.

In the summer of 1894 Gruev organized the first local revolutionary organization in the town of Negotino. Soon after, with Pere

Toshev’s assistance, he organized the first district committee in the city of Shtip. Gruev also visited the cities Resen, Ohrid and Struga and found the environment quite amicable to his revolutionary ideas. In Shtip the conditions were even more to his liking so he decided to remain and teach there during the 1894-1895 academic year.

In the fall of the same year Gruev met Gotse Delchev for the first time. Delchev independently shared Gruev’s idea of creating a Macedonian secret revolutionary organization.

Soon after their initial acquaintance the two men found they had a lot in common and became intimate friends. Delchev, with his gentle character, sincerity and honesty, made an excellent impression on Gruev who wasted no time into recruiting him into IMRO. Since then the two men worked very closely, widening the revolutionary circle around Shtip.

With time IMRO grew in strength, especially after the years 1895 to 1897 when Gruev went back to Solun to work as a school inspector. With his uninhibited ability to travel, Gruev became the body and soul of the Central revolutionary committee.

Under his direction the organization began to issue a secret revolutionary paper, introduced ciphers, issued pseudonyms for its cooperatives and established secret channels of communication between the various local and regional committees. He also appointed representatives to purchase arms and provisions for IMRO.

Gruev’s ability to travel uninhibited in Macedonia was a key factor in spreading cells of the organization, not only throughout Macedonia but also in Endrene (Dardanelles).

With time Gruev’s achievements were becoming a threat to Bulgaria’s aspirations for Macedonia. To curb IMRO’s success, the Vrhovists created the "Revolutionary Brotherhood" in Solun which, while pretending to be part of IMRO, was carrying out terrorist activities and blaming them on the real IMRO. Under the leadership of the Vrhovist Garvanov, the “brotherhood” ordered the execution

of Delchev, Gruev and a number of other Macedonian revolutionaries.

Soon after discovering he was a wanted man, Gruev moved to Bitola and continued his revolutionary work there. He began to issue another paper, opened Sunday schools and raised money through a special "revolutionary tax" to purchase weapons and supplies.

While in Bitola, Gruev resumed his job on the teaching staff and assumed leadership of the Bitola District revolutionary movement.

Gruev’s activities in Bitola District did not go unnoticed by the Turkish authorities. Due to their number and intensity, after his arrival, led the Turks into believing that he may be responsible for them. He was arrested on August 6, 1900 and held in the Bitola jail until May 1902. Fortunately his confinement was not an obstacle to his revolutionary work. By means of secret writings, ciphers, etc., he was able to stay in constant contact with the various local revolutionary committees and he was able to direct the affairs of the Bitola revolutionary district from prison. Even Delchev was able to visit him twice, unsuspected.

From May 1902 until March 1903, Gruev was imprisoned in the Podrum Kale prison in Asia Minor from which he continued to lead the Bitola District.

After his release, as a result of the general amnesty, Gruev went to Solun for a meeting with Delchev where, among other things, they discussed the illegally proposed May 1903 general uprising. Delchev reiterated that this was an illegal decision, declaring that an early uprising would be suicidal and urged Gruev to convince the leadership to delay it. He also recommended that the uprising take place only in regions like Bitola which were prepared for combat.

The decision to start the uprising early was instigated by the pro-Bulgarian Vrhovists. The Vrhovists did not want the Macedonians to succeed. In their estimation an early uprising would not only extinguish all Macedonian hopes of liberation but at the same time would weaken Turkey enough to ensure Bulgaria an easy victory.

Gruev took Delchev’s advice and delayed the general uprising for several months. He also decided to only involve western Macedonia and only those regions which were ready for combat.

Unfortunately, not all of the leadership agreed with Gruev’s assessment. Many believed the Vrhovist propaganda which was promising Bulgarian military aid and which would be delivered the moment the uprising began.

To put the matter to rest, the leadership decided to hold another congress, this time in Smilevo, Gruev’s hometown. The congress was scheduled to start on May 3rd, 1903 but unfortunately it was without Delchev. Delchev was killed by the Turks on May 4th and could not add his voice of reason to the debate. Without Delchev the Vrhovists continued to make empty promises and persuaded the leadership to support an early uprising which was scheduled for Ilinden, August 2nd, 1903. Having no other choice Gruev threw his own support with the majority and decided to go ahead and risk it all on an early uprising.

Gruev himself actively took part in the insurrection and fought numerous battles against the Turkish army, gallantly defending his temporarily freed hometown, Smilevo. Unfortunately with the arrival of a large Turkish army in Macedonia, numbering over 300,000 troops, his chances of a successful general insurrection were completely diminished. The promised help from Bulgaria never materialized.

When the uprising was over Gruev stayed in Macedonia and once again began to tour the various revolutionary districts, disarmed the insurgents and stored weapons and materials for the future. Even though he lost the fight, Gruev never lost hope. He believed there would be a better day and another fight.

The years 1903 and 1904 were disastrous for the Macedonian people but Gruev and his remaining revolutionaries kept up the peoples’ spirits and continued to fight against foreign propaganda, organizing and preparing for another opportunity to strike his enemies again.

In May 1904, under Gruev’s presidency, the Prilep Congress was held and the decision was made to decentralize the organization’s power and give the districts more authority. A little later he took leadership of the Skopje District. During the summer of 1905, under Gruev’s presidency, the very important Seres Congress was held. In October 1905 Gruev played an important role in the Rila Congress by maintaining a strong unity and faith in the organization.

After the Rila Congress the right wing factions within the organization began to cooperate more closely with the Vrhovists and declared war on IMRO.

Gruev was disappointed and disillusioned by the turn of events but continued to do his work. He went to Solun to finish some business and, on his way back while going through the village Rusinovo in Berovo District, he and his Cheta were betrayed to the Turks.

On December 23rd, 1906 a numerically superior Turkish force surrounded Gruev and his Cheta. The Macedonians fought heroically in this uneven struggle down to the last man.

When the Turkish Central authorities found out that Gruev was among those killed, they immediately telegraphed the local governor to uncover the buried bodies and take a photograph of Gruev. The autocratic bureaucracy of Tsari Grad was not convinced that Gruev was actually dead and wanted to see for themselves that this great disturber of the empire, Gruev, was really dead.

Reference: Pages 128-130, Macedonian Almanac, 1976.

Gruevski - Nikola Gruevski (1970-

Nikola Gruevski was born in August 21, 1970 in Skopje, Macedonia. He is a Macedonian, belongs to the Political party VMRO-DPMNE, is married to Borkitsa Gruevska, is an economist by profession and Orthodox by religion.

Nikola Gruevski, M.Sc. is a Macedonian politician who has been Prime Minister in the Republic of Macedonia since August 27,

2006. He has led the ruling VMRO-DPMNE party since May 2003. He was Minister of Finance in the VMRO-DPMNE government led by Ljubcho Georgievski until September 2002.

Born at Skopje in 1970, Gruevski was brought up in a family that was neither privileged nor poor. His father worked in furniture and design and his mother was a nurse. After his parents’ divorce, his mother brought him up. When he was four, she went to work in Libya, like thousands of other Yugoslav citizens, and took him with her. After their return Nikola completed his primary and secondary education in Skopje. After having graduated from the Faculty of Economics at St. Clement of Ohrid University of Bitola in 1994 (where he dabbled in amateur dramatics and boxing) he entered the nascent finance sector, and was the first person to trade on Skopje's stock exchange.

In 1996 he acquired qualifications for the international capital market from a London Securities Institute. On December 12, 2006, he obtained a Master’s degree from the Faculty of Economics at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje. Gruevski founded the Brokerage Association of the Republic of Macedonia in 1998 as its president and made the first transaction at the Macedonian Stock Exchange.

Gruevski divorced his first wife and married again in May 2007 to Borkitsa Gruevska with whom he has two daughters: Anastasija and Sofija.

Gruevski paternal grandparents stem from Krushoradi, a village located in Greek occupied Macedonia, where his grandfather Nikolaos Grouios/Nikola Gruev (1911-1940) was born.

Up until its official Greek annexation after the Second Balkan War in 1913, the village was called Krushoradi, afterwards, in 1926, the Greek administration changed the name to Achlada. Nikola’s father fought in the Greco-Italian War, where he lost his life. His name is mentioned on the war memorial in Achlada among the names of the locals who were killed during World War II. Some years later, during the Greek Civil War, Gruevski's grandmother and father, like thousands of other Macedonians in Greek occupied Macedonia, fled

north to what was then Yugoslav Macedonia, where they restored their original Macedonian names.

Ljubcho Georgievski’s government sold the Macedonian Telecom to Hungarian Matáv and the OKTA oil refinery to Hellenic Petroleum. Gruevski also implemented financial reforms, including the value added tax of 18%, requiring fiscal receipts for all Macedonian businesses, which was a program designed to fight tax evasion.

Gruevski is the leader of the ruling party VMRO-DPMNE. After VMRO-DPMNE was defeated in the Macedonian parliamentary election, 2002, there was a period of infighting within the party. Gruevski emerged as the pro-EU leader, and was elected as a leader of the party, after Ljubcho Georgievski left his position. Georgievski set up his own party (VMRO-People's Party), but VMRO-DPMNE retained most of the party's supporters.

The VMRO-DPMNE won the Macedonian parliamentary election, 2006. On August 25 Gruevski constituted a new government. His government has many new faces, mostly in their 30s in key ministries and other positions. During the election Gruevski earned the distinction of becoming the first elected European head of government born in the 1970s. He remains the second youngest head of government in Europe, surpassed only by Montenegrin prime minister Igor Lukšić.

In June 2007 Gruevski attended a meeting in Tirana, Albania, along with U.S President George W. Bush, President of the United States, Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of Albania and Ivo Sanader, Prime Minister of Croatia.

On June 1, 2008, the coalition led by Gruevski’s party VMRO-DPMNE won the Macedonian parliamentary elections. This was his second electoral victory in a row, winning more than half of the seats in the parliament. Some polling stations, unfortunately, were marred by a number of violent incidents and allegations of fraud in some ethnic Albanian dominated municipalities. He created a coalition government with the Democratic Union for Integration.

On June 5, 2011, the coalition led by Gruevski’s VMRO-DPMNE party won the Macedonian parliamentary election. This was his third electoral victory in a row, winning 56 out of the 123 seats in the parliament. Gruevski formed the new government, again in coalition with the Democratic Union for Integration.

On January 6, 2012, Gruevski opened the triumphal arch “Porta Macedonia” in Skopje as a monument to 20th anniversary of Macedonian independence, and admitted that he personally has been a supporter of the Skopje 2014 project.