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Blaže Koneski ( mk, Блаже Конески; 19 December 1921 – 7 December 1993) was a Macedonian poet, writer,
literary translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...
, and
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
scholar. His major contribution was to the codification of standard Macedonian. He is the key figure who shaped Macedonian literature and intellectual life in the country however he has also been accused of serbianizing the Macedonian
standard language A standard language (also standard variety, standard dialect, and standard) is a language variety that has undergone substantial codification of grammar and usage, although occasionally the term refers to the entirety of a language that includ ...
.


Biography

Koneski was born in Nebregovo, in the then province of South Serbia, part of the
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
(current day
North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...
). His family was strongly pro-Serbian and identified as Serbs since Ottoman times, with a long tradition of serving in the Serbian army and Serbian guerrillas, especially his mother's uncle Gligor Sokolović who was a famous Serbian
Chetnik The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
voivode. He received a Royal Serbian scholarship to study in the
Kragujevac Kragujevac ( sr-Cyrl, Крагујевац, ) is the fourth largest city in Serbia and the administrative centre of the Šumadija District. It is the historical centre of the geographical region of Šumadija in central Serbia, and is situated on ...
gymnasium or high school. Later, he studied medicine at the
University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac- ...
, and then changed to
Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and ...
and
literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to includ ...
. In 1941, after the defeat of Yugoslavia in Aufmarsch 25, he enrolled in the Faculty of Slavic studies at the
Sofia University Sofia University, "St. Kliment Ohridski" at the University of Sofia, ( bg, Софийски университет „Св. Климент Охридски“, ''Sofijski universitet „Sv. Kliment Ohridski“'') is the oldest higher education ...
. After the Bulgarian coup d'état in September 1944, he returned to his native land, before completing his higher education. Here Koneski began working in the department for communist
agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', "propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred to ...
at the Main Headquarters of the
Macedonian Partisans The Macedonian Partisans, officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia, sh, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odredi Makedonije was a communist and anti-fascist resistance movement formed in occupied Y ...
. However, in 1945 at the age of 23 he became one of the most important contributors to the
standardization Standardization or standardisation is the process of implementing and developing technical standards based on the consensus of different parties that include firms, users, interest groups, standards organizations and governments. Standardization ...
of Macedonian. He worked as a lector in the Macedonian National Theater, but in 1946, he joined the faculty at the Philosophy Department of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, where he worked until his retirement. In 1957 he received there the title of full professor. At the same time, he taught the subject of the history of the Macedonian language, and during his entire university career he held the position of head of the Department of Macedonian Language and South Slavic Languages. In 1952/1953 he was dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, and in 1958-1960 he was rector of the University of Skopje. Meanwhile Koneski worked as an editor, and was a prolific contributor to the literary journal "Nov Den", the predecessor of the oldest-survived literary journal " Sovremenost", and "Macedonian Language", published by the Institute for Macedonian language. He became a member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1967, and was elected its president in 1967 through 1975. Koneski was also a member of the
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and S ...
(
Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...
),
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 m ...
( Serbia),
Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the a ...
(
Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, a ...
) and
Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of can ...
(
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
) Academies of Sciences and Arts, and an honorary doctor of the Universities of
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, and
Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
in Poland. The American Slavist
Victor Friedman Victor A. Friedman (born October 18, 1949) is an American linguist, Slavist. He is the Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Service Professor in Humanities at the University of Chicago. He holds an appointment in the Department of Linguistics and an ...
would mention Koneski as one of his mentors. Blaže Koneski died in
Skopje Skopje ( , , ; mk, Скопје ; sq, Shkup) is the capital and List of cities in North Macedonia by population, largest city of North Macedonia. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. The territory of Sk ...
on December 7, 1993. He received a state funeral for his distinguished literary career, and for his contributions to the codification of standard Macedonian.


Literary works

Koneski wrote poetry and prose. His most famous collections of poetry are: ''Mostot, Pesni, Zemjata i ljubovta, Vezilka, Zapisi, Cesmite, Stari i novi pesni, Seizmograf'', among others. His collection of short stories ''Vineyard mk, Lozje'' is also famous. Koneski was a distinguished translator of poetry from German, Russian, Slovenian, Serbian and Polish; he translated the works of Njegos, Prešeren, Heine, Blok, Neruda, and others.


Awards and recognitions

Blaze Koneski won a number of literary prizes such as: the
AVNOJ The Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia,, mk, Антифашистичко собрание за народно ослободување на Југославија commonly abbreviated as the AVNOJ, was a deliberat ...
prize, the Njegoš prize, the Golden Wreath ("Zlaten Venec") of the
Struga Poetry Evenings Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) ( mk, Струшки вечери на поезијата, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several dec ...
, the Award of the Writer's Union of the USSR,
Herder Prize The Herder Prize (german: Gottfried-von-Herder-Preis), named after the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803), was a prestigious international prize awarded every year from 1964 to 2006 to scholars and artists from Central and Sou ...
and others. The Faculty of Philology at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje is named after Blaze Koneski.


Work on standard Macedonian

Koneski is remembered for his work on codifying the Macedonian standard language. He is the author of ''On Standard Macedonian'' ( mk, За македонскиот литературен јазик), ''Grammar of Standard Macedonian'' ( mk, Граматика на македонскиот литературен јазик), ''History of Macedonian'' ( mk, Историја на македонскиот јазик), among other works. He was one of the editors of ''Macedonian Dictionary'' ( mk, Речник на македонскиот јазик).


Criticism

Bulgarian linguists such as Iliya Talev, in his ''History of the Macedonian Language'', have accused Koneski of plagiarizing Kiril Mirchev's ''Historical Grammar of the Bulgarian Language'' because both authors analyzed the same corpus of texts. In Bulgaria, he has also been accused of manipulating historical facts for political goals. There has been also claimed the Macedonian standard was Serbianized with the help of Koneski. As a young boy Koneski himself spoke a heavily Serbianized language and was ridiculed for this. According to Christian Voss the turning point in the Serbianization of Macedonian took place in the late 1950s, that coincided with the preparation period for the dictionary of Koneski published between 1961 and 1966. Voss argues that it contains a consistent pro-Serbian bias. When he visited Chicago in 1969 and received the title of "Doctor Honoris Causa" from a local university, letters of protest were sent to the rector by two Albanian intellectuals from
Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba (North Macedonia), Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of th ...
living in
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...
, claiming the Macedonian language was invented by the Yugoslav Communists to de-Bulgarianize the local Slavs. Today Historical revisionists in the Republic of North Macedonia, who questioned the narrative established in Communist Yugoslavia, have described the process of codifying Macedonian, to which Koneski was an important contributor, as 'Serbianization'. Macedonian nationalists have also accused Koneski and the communist elite of Serbianizing the Macedonian standard language. Similarly,
Venko Markovski Venko Markovski ( Bulgarian and mk, Венко Марковски), born Veniamin Milanov Toshev (March 5, 1915 in Skopje – January 7, 1988 in Sofia) was a Bulgarian and Macedonian writer, poet, partisan and Communist politician. Biography B ...
, who was one of the codifiers of the Macedonian standard, openly accused Koneski of Serbianizing the Macedonian language.


Bibliography


Poetry and prose

*''Land and Love'' (poetry, 1948) *''Poems'' (1953) *''The Embroideress'' (poetry, 1955) *''The Vineyard'' (short stories, 1955) *''Poems'' (1963) *''Sterna (poetry, 1966), Hand - Shaking'' (narrative poem, 1969) *''Notes'' (poetry, 1974) *''Poems Old and New'' (poetry, 1979) *''Places and Moments'' (poetry, 1981) *''The Fountains'' (poetry, 1984) *''The Epistle'' (poetry, 1987) *''Meeting in Heaven'' (poetry, 1988) *''The Church'' (poetry 1988) *''A Diary after Many Years'' (prose, 1988) *''Golden Peak'' (poetry, 1989) *''Seismograph'' (poetry, 1989) *''The Heavenly River'' (poems and translations, 1991) *''The Black Ram'' (poetry, 1993)


Academic and other works

*''Normative Guide with a Dictionary of Standard Macedonian with Krum Tošev'' (1950) *''Grammar of Standard Macedonian'' (volume 1, 1952) *''Standard Macedonian'' (1959) *''A Grammar of Standard Macedonian'' (volume 2, 1954) *''Macedonian Dictionary'' (1961) *''A History of Macedonian'' (1965) *''Macedonian Dictionary'' (volume 2, edited, 1965) *''Macedonian Dictionary'' (volume 3, 1966) *''The Language of the Macedonian Folk Poetry'' (1971) *''Speeches and Essays'' (1972) *''Macedonian Textbooks of 19th Century: Linguistic, Literary, Historical Texts'' (1986) *''Images and Themes'' (essays, 1987) *''The Tikveš Anthology'' (study, 1987) *''Poetry (Konstantin Miladinov), the Way Blaze Koneski Reads It'' (1989) *''Macedonian Locations and Topics'' (essays, 1991) *''The World of the Legend and the Song'' (essays, 1993)


References


Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Koneski, Blaze 1921 births 1993 deaths People from Dolneni Municipality 20th-century poets 20th-century translators Macedonian communists Macedonian poets Macedonists Macedonian people of Serbian descent Yugoslav writers University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje faculty Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates Literary translators Herder Prize recipients Yugoslav poets Serbs of North Macedonia