Constantin Belimace (July 1848 – 1932) was an Aromanian poet. He was born into an Aromanian family in Malovišta (), a village that formed part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Rumelia Eyalet The Eyalet of Rumeli, or Eyalet of Rumelia (), known as the Beylerbeylik of Rumeli until 1591, was a first-level province ('' beylerbeylik'' or ''eyalet'') of the Ottoman Empire encompassing most of the Balkans ("Rumelia"). For most of its history ...

and is now in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. His father was Tașcu Belimace. He attended school in his native village and at a Serbian school in Belgrade. In 1873, he moved to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, capital of the

Romanian Old Kingdom The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...

. There, he opened a restaurant favored by students, particularly from south of the Danube, and by writers. In the enthusiastically patriotic atmosphere that followed the

Romanian War of Independence The Romanian War of Independence () is the name used in Romanian historiography to refer to the phase of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78), in which Romania, fighting on the Russian side of the war, gained independence from the Ottoman Empire. On ...

, Belimace began composing poems, thus becoming among the first writers in the

Aromanian language The Aromanian language (, , , , , or , , ), also known as Vlach or Macedo-Romanian, is an Eastern Romance languages, Eastern Romance language, similar to Megleno-Romanian language, Megleno-Romanian, Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian an ...

: "Cucotul" (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: "Cocoșul"; "The Rooster") and "

Dimãndarea pãrinteascã "Dimãndarea pãrinteascã" ('The Will of the Forefathers'), also known as "Pãrinteasca dimãndari" ('The Forefathers' Will'), is an Aromanian poem written in 1888, exhorting parents to teach their children the language, instead of assimilati ...

" ("Porunca părintească"; "The Parents' Command"). These appeared, respectively, in ''România'' and ''Voința națională''. Later, together with others, they were published in Andrei Bagav's 1887 ''Cartea de alegere'' (''Cartea de citire''; ''Reader''). Belimace helped found the

Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society The Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society (, ) is an Aromanian cultural organization in Romania. It was founded on 23 September 1879, succeeding the Macedo-Romanian Committee established in 1860. The SCMR has the aim of preserving and developing the ...

and the Lumina association, and took part in editing periodicals such as ''Frațil'ea într'u dreptate'' and ''Macedonia''. His contributions appeared in ''Frațil'ea'', ''Grai bun'', ''

Lumina Lumina may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Lumina'', a literary journal published by Sarah Lawrence College * ''World of Lumina'' or ''Lumina'', a graphic novel by Emanuele Tenderini and Linda Cavallini * "Lumina", a song by Joan Os ...

'', ''Peninsula Balcanică'' and '' Românul de la Pind'', as well as in various calendars and almanacs. After returning to Macedonia, he worked as a supervisor at the Romanian boarding high school in

Bitola Bitola (; ) 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, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was held hostage in Bulgaria for two years. He died in Bitola in 1932, when the city was in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

.Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', vol. I, p. 152. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Belimace belonged to the Farsherot subgroup of the Aromanians.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belimace, Constantin 1848 births 1932 deaths Poets from the Ottoman Empire People from Bitola Municipality Aromanians from the Ottoman Empire Romanian people of Aromanian descent Yugoslav people of Aromanian descent Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Romania Members of the Macedo-Romanian Cultural Society Aromanian poets Romanian poets Aromanian editors Romanian magazine editors Romanian restaurateurs World War I prisoners of war held by Bulgaria