Stefan Jakimov Dedov (; ; 28 October 1869 – 19 September 1914) was a journalist, writer and early proponent of the
Macedonian Slavs
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia
* Mac ...
' ethnonational distinctiveness. He publicly expressed the idea of a
Macedonian nation
Macedonians ( ) are a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group native to the region of Macedonia in Southeast Europe. They speak Macedonian, a South Slavic language. The large majority of Macedonians identify as Eastern Orthodox Christians, ...
distinct from the
Bulgarians
Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, ...
, as well as a separate
Macedonian language
Macedonian ( ; , , ) is an Eastern South Slavic language. It is part of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, and is one of the Slavic languages, which are part of a larger Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch. Sp ...
. He also self-identified occasionally as a Bulgarian.
Biography
Dedov was born in 1869 in
Ohrid
Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...
in 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 ...
(now
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 ...
). He worked as a teacher there prior to working as a postal worker in
Berkovitsa
Berkovitsa ( ) is a town and ski resort in northwestern Bulgaria. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Berkovitsa Municipality, Montana Province and is close to the town of Varshets. , it had a population of 13,917.Ruse, Bulgaria. In 1898, he moved to
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
, where he began studying at the Faculty of Law (1898-1902). Тhere he, along with Dijamandija Mišajkov, founded the "Macedonian club", and published the newspaper ''Balkanski glasnik'' (Balkan Herald) in French and Serbian. The newspaper expressed the idea for an independent Macedonian state, nation and language. Later the Serbian government banned the club and suppressed the newspaper.
In 1902, he went to
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
together with Mišajkov and became one of the founders of
Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society
The Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society, also called Slavic-Macedonian Scholarly and Literary Society, was an organization of Macedonian Slavs in Russia in the first decades of the twentieth century.
Activity
It was established in Saint ...
in October. Along with Mišajkov, the next month, he sent a memorandum to the Russian government calling for Macedonian autonomy, recognition of
Macedonian Slavs
Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia.
Macedonian(s) may refer to:
People Modern
* Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia
* Mac ...
as a distinct ethnic group and a distinct Macedonian Slavic language, as well as an independent church, among other things.
Dedov went to Sofia in 1903 and published the newspaper ''Balkan''. There he espoused
pro-Bulgarian
Bulgarians (, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and its neighbouring region, who share a common Bulgarian ancestry, culture, history and language. They form the majority of the population in Bulgaria, while in No ...
views in his publications. However he also aided
Krste Petkov Misirkov
Krste Petkov Misirkov (, ; ; Serbian Cyrillic: Крста Петковић Мисирков; ; 18 November 1874 – 26 July 1926) was a philologist, journalist, historian and ethnographer from the region of Macedonia.
In the period between 1903 ...
in the printing of '' On Macedonian Matters'' and created a branch of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society with him on 23 November, but it was disbanded by the Bulgarian police after two days.
In 1904 he published the newspaper ''Kurier'' (Courier). He was a contributor for the ''Den'' (Day) and ''Balkanski Kurier'' (Balkan Courier) newspapers, mostly under the pseudonym ''Ridski'' or ''R''. Dedov cooperated with some
Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization
The Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO; ; ), was a secret revolutionary society founded in the Ottoman territories in Europe, that operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Founded in 1893 in Salonica, it initia ...
activists, though he was suspected of being a pro-Serbian activist by the organization. He was killed in 1914 by an associate of
Todor Aleksandrov
Todor Aleksandrov Poporushov ( Bulgarian/Macedonian: Тодор Александров Попорушов; 4 March 1881 – 31 August 1924), anglicised as Todor Alexandrov, was a Macedonian Bulgarian revolutionary, Bulgarian army officer, polit ...
- Slave Ivanov. Reporting on his death, the Belgrade newspaper ''
Politika
( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans.
Publishing and ownership
is publ ...
'' described him as a "''honorary Serbian
commercial agent
An intermediary, also known as a middleman or go-between, is defined differently by context. In law or diplomacy, an intermediary is a third party who offers intermediation services between two parties. In trade or barter, an intermediary acts a ...
''".
His son, Evtim Dedov was a prominent Bulgarian sports journalist, director of the ''Levski'' sports newspaper and general secretary of the "Levski" Sport Club.Димитър П Иванчев и колектив, Български периодичен печат, 1844-1944: анотиран библиографски указател, Том 1, Български библиографски институт, Народна библиотека "Кирил и Методий." Наука и изкуство, 1962, стр. 436.