ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stoian Kochov was born in 1930 in the village Turie, Lerin Region. During the Greek Civil War (1946-1949) he was an active participant in the DAG (Democratic Army of Greece) units. From 1950 to 1957 he lived and studied in the USSR until his return to the Republic of Macedonia in 1957. Stoian graduated from Belgrade University and after that moved to Skopje.

Stoian authored the following works:

1. СРЕДБА раскази „Студентски збор”- Скопје, 1989; 2. ЕДНА МРТВА ВОЈСКА - поезија „Македонска книга” -Скпје, 1992; 3. САМО) ЖРТВУВАЊЕТО НА МАКЕДОНСКИОТ НАРОД ПОД ГРЦИЈА - критички огледи „Матица македонска” -Скопје, 1994. 4. МРТВОТО ЛИЦЕ НА ВОЈНАТА - поезија „Македонско сонце” - Скопје, 1996. 5. ЃОРЃИ ПЕЈКОВ - МАКЕДОНСКИ ВОИН НИЗ ИСТОРИЈАТА НА ДАГ (1945-1949) - монографија -„Академик” - Скопје, 1996. 6. ТАЛКАЧИ - роман, „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 1997; 7. НОВА ГОДИНА ВО ЗЕМЈАНКИТЕ НА ГРАМОС - роман „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 1998 8. КАЗНА БЕЗ ВИНА - роман „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2001 9. ВО ПРЕСРЕТ НА СУДБИНАТА - раскази „Огледало”, Скопје, 1998 10. ИДЕОЛОШКИОТ АКТИВИЗАМ НАД МАКЕДОНЦИТЕ ПОД ГРЦИЈА -критички огледи, „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2000 11. ЕСЕИ И ЛИТЕРАТУРНИ ТОЛКУВАЊА - критички огледи, „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2002. 12. КОБА И ГНЕВ - Раскази “Менора”, Скпје, 2010. 13. ГРОБАРОТ ОД ЛЕРИН - роман „Детска радост”, Скопје, 2001 14. БАЛКАНСКА САГА - роман “Макавеј”- Скопје, 2004. 15. БИЛЕТ ВО ЕДЕН ПРАВЕЦ - Историски критички огледи „Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2004

16. ГОЛЕМОТО ВРАЌАЊЕ НА ТАЛКАЧИТЕ - роман „Современост”, Скопје, 2006 17. МАКЕДОНЦИТЕ НИЗ ПЕКОЛОТ НА ЦРВЕНОТО ГУБИЛИШТЕ - Историски критички огледи “Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2007. 18. ВОИНОТ И МАРГАРИТА - Роман “Матица македонска”, 2008. 19. ЈАМКА - роман “Матица македонска”, Скопје, 2009. 20. ВРАЌАЊЕТО НА ПОТОМЦИТЕ - роман “Менора”, Скопје, 2009. 21. ГЛАСОТ НА ТАЛКАЧИТЕ - Поезија, 2009 22. ГРОБНИЦАТА НА БРАТОЈАДЦИТЕ - роман, 2011.

REVIEWS

First Review

Stoian Kochov, (1930), poet, short story writer and lover of history; a person close to his people. I should mention up front that Stoian was among the first people to object to the division present in the people from Aegean, Vardar and Pirin Macedonia, which has been imposed on us by others, and which we have accepted and have carried with us for decades. This author has revolted against the indignation, the disagreements, the views and the negative opinions of others about us. This he has made very clear in his books.

His knowledge of the military campaigns in the destructive war imposed on us (in which nobody could ever imagine that there would be a victorious end for us) is impressive and more impressive is this man’s knowledge of events and life that came later, after the war (1946-1949), in Greek occupied Macedonia.

In retrospect Stoian seeks (and manages) to reconstruct something of a past life full of war horrors and terrifying suffering. And everywhere he looks he feels the conscience of a man without his own will, who found himself in the whirlpool of war fighting for DAG. After that the devastation and banishment of our people from the southern parts of our homeland… He writes about the youthful blind faith that willed our people to fight, and fight for our national liberation (who in reality were fighting for our national extermination), without knowing the true intention, not only of the DAG leadership and the Greek Monarcho-Fascists, but also of those in Moscow, Belgrade and the other communist centres that fueled the war in this unfortunate part of Macedonia.

And what of Stoian Kochov’s short stories? They were written with great love and true feelings for the people about whom the author speaks. They were written with the sole desire to keep them alive… a testimony to our past… the stories are voices which speak of the tragedy of our people from Greek occupied Macedonia… of their experiences… of their dark and evil fate… of an oppressed and humiliated people...

Done Panovski, literary critic

Second Review

“…Stoian Kochov’s stories are laced with bitter awareness of a tragic fate that swept the Macedonian people in Greece. The stories offer a wide range of themes and as many plots as there are people...”

Giorgi Stalev

Third Review

For fifty years now, on a daily basis, the Macedonian readers have endured a sickness stemming from the violent tragedy that took place in their homeland. According to the depth and duration, this violent tragedy has caused the people from the southern Macedonian regions to disperse around the world and to be irreversibly separated from their homes. There is very little known of this unprecedented injustice done to our people. The general public in Europe and North America, which carries much of the blame for this tragedy and human suffering for almost all of our people in Greek occupied Macedonia, knows very little to nothing about this.

What is most unfortunate is that even the Macedonian people in general know very little about this Macedonian tragedy and those who do know something have shown indifference, not because of ignorance but because, it should be said, of understandably wanting to hold their distance. I am not talking about ordinary Macedonian people here, I am talking about the “official Macedonian views” that had been held for half a century now.

The short stories under the title “Tragedy and Wrath” by Stoian Kochov, like all his other published short stories and novels, not only enrich our literature dealing with this Macedonian tragedy, but offers an in-depth analysis of a number of individual human destinies, taken from the lives and journeys of those who have suffered. These short stories are not fictitious, they are based on real people and real events which provide the reader with a rounded

picture of the 1950’s and the suffering of a large part of the Macedonian nation, which is still ongoing, with no end in sight.

One general characteristic that the author subtly offers the reader is proof that the Macedonian people who have taken the hardest, cruelest and most tragic blows of fate have accepted them with stoicism and with calm, keeping their pain to themselves, not cultivating anger and hatred against anyone, not even against the direct perpetrators of this tragedy. This stoicism, calmness and peacefulness that the Macedonian people possess are repeatedly confirmed through their artistic creations and also through their acts in political life.

Stoian Kochov’s stories offer the reader noticeable values and simplicity in style, a clear language with clarity and simplicity in his sentences. With all their values, these stories, of course, should reach out to the widest circle of Macedonian readers.

Nikola Kichevsкi