Mihailo Apostolski

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Mihailo Apostolski
Native name
Михаило Апостолски
BornNovember 8, 1906
Novo Selo, Ottoman Empire
DiedAugust 7, 1987(1987-08-07) (aged 80)
Dojran, SFR Yugoslavia
Allegiance Kingdom of Yugoslavia;
 SFR Yugoslavia
RankColonel General
Known forCommander of the Headquarters of the People's Liberation Army and Partisan detachments in Macedonia during World War II.[1]
Alma materMilitary Academy, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Spouse(s)Cveta Apostolska

Mihailo Apostolski (Macedonian: Михаило Апостолски; Bulgarian: Михаил Митев Апостолов;[2] Serbian: Михаило Митић, romanized: Mihailo Mitić;[3][page needed] November 8, 1906 – August 7, 1987) was a Macedonian general, partisan, military theoretician, politician, academic and historian. He was the commander of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia,[1][4][page needed] colonel general of the Yugoslav People's Army, and was declared a People's Hero of Yugoslavia.

Life

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Early life

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Apostolski was born Mihail Mitev Apostolov[5] in Novo Selo, in the Kosovo vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia), in a Bulgarian Exarchist family to Mite Apostolov and Vasa Apostolova.[1][4] He attended primary and secondary school in Štip. In 1927, he graduated from the Military Academy in Belgrade, capital of Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1933, he graduated from the High Military Academy, and in 1938 he graduated from the Commanding Academy as a major.

During World War II

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During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, he was a commander of the alpine units of the Royal Yugoslav Army in Ljubljana.[6] According to another report, he was a general staff officer in charge of the railway transport.[7] At that time he was in Belgrade.[8] After the capitulation of Yugoslavia and the subsequent occupation of Vardar Macedonia, Apostolski returned to Ljubljana, where was captured by the Italian army and was taken to the camp Vestone. Shortly after, his father, a First World War Bulgarian army veteran, petitioned the Bulgarian Minister of War to help release Apostolski.[9]

After being released from prison, Apostolski received a certificate that he was a "trustworthy Bulgarian".[10][11] Later he filed an application for appointment in the Bulgarian army.[12] He was offered the rank of captain, however he refused.[9][13] Later, General Konstantin Lukash, interceded for him, looking for a job in the Bulgarian State Railways' system, but without success.[14] Afterwards, Apostolski entered the Sofia University, where he conducted underground work.[15] In April 1942, he became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and in June the same year he was appointed commander of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia. In May 1943, he was promoted to Major General. During the Second Session of Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia (AVNOJ) he became a member of the Presidency of AVNOJ. In addition to the Macedonian brigades operating under his command, in February 1944, he commanded the brigades from Kosovo and Southern Serbia. He became a member of the Initiative committee for the organization of the Antifascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM). He participated in the First Session of the ASNOM and was elected to its presidency.[1]

After World War II

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After the Second World War Apostolski became one of the military leaders of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). After the end of his active military service, he began intensively dealing with the history of the Macedonian nation. From 1965 to 1970, he was the head of the Institute of National History in Skopje, SR Macedonia. He was accused of systematically falsifying history and in the use of hate speech against Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people.[16] On that occasion Apostolski became famous among Bulgarian historians with his phrase: "I have no evidence, but I claim it".[17] He was actively involved in the formation of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, of which he was member of since its creation. He was also its president from 1976 to 1983.[1] He was also a member of:

He died on August 7, 1987, in Dojran, SFRY.[1][4]

Legacy

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Apostolski in 1976

In 1995, the Military Academy in Republic of Macedonia was named "General Mihailo Apostolski".

His birthplace, the House of Mihajlo Apostolski, is recognized as a protected object of Cultural Heritage of North Macedonia.[18]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Македонска енциклопедија, том 1 (in Macedonian). Skopje: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите. 2009. pp. 76–77. ISBN 9786082030234.
  2. ^ Bulgarian Archives State Agency, Personalities; № 8: Mihail Mitev Apostolov. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-11-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. ^ Бјелајац, Миле; Трифуновић, Предраг (1997). Између војске и политике. Београд, Крушевац: Институт за новију историју Србије, Народни музеј Крушевац. ISBN 86-7005-020-X.
  4. ^ a b c Narodni heroji Jugoslavije, Mladost, Beograd 1975.
  5. ^ Michev, Dobrin (2003). The Liberation struggles after the First World War, 1919-1944. Macedonian Scientific Institute, Historical Institute (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). p. 430. ISBN 9548187612.
  6. ^ Kiro Gligorov, Macedonia is Everything we Have, Izdavacki centar TRI, 2001, Skopje (in Macedonian) Киро Глигоров, Македонија е сѐ што имаме, Издавачки центар ТРИ, 2001, Скопје.
  7. ^ According to a document signed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, General Konstantin Lukash; ДВИА ф. 20, оп. 3, а.е. 60, л. 534 София, 15 декември 1941 г.
  8. ^ Блаже Миневски, Дража Михајловиќ: Вие Македонците сте целосно онеправдани. Од НМ - 12:19 06.08.2021.
  9. ^ a b Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Volume 68 of Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, p. 16.
  10. ^ Михов, Милен Василев, Гребенаров, Александър Георгиев, (2016) Освобождението на българи от Вардарска Македония - военнопленници от бившата югославска армия през Втората световна война. Българска академия на науките, стр. 97, ISBN 9789542903253.
  11. ^ Властите в Щип гарантират за българския произход на Михайло Апостолски. Документът е публикуван в „Освобождението на българи от Вардарска Македония – военнопленници от бившата югославска армия през Втората световна война”, С., 2016, Македонски научен институт, 11/07/2016 г.
  12. ^ Македонски научен институт, 13 юли, 2016 г. Михайло Апостолски иска да стане български чиновник.
  13. ^ Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900-1996, Chris Kostov, Peter Lang, 2010, p. 13., ISBN 3-0343-0196-0
  14. ^ Високопоставен български офицер ходатайства за ген. Михайло Апостолски. ДВИА ф. 20, оп. 3, а.е. 60, л. 534 София, 15 декември 1941 г.
  15. ^ Dimitris Livanios, The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939-1949, OUP Oxford, 2008, ISBN 0191528722, p. 122.
  16. ^ 40. Противобългарската дейност на Темпо и неговите сподвижници - Апостоловски и Колишевски - II
  17. ^ Венко Марковски, "Кръвта вода не става", София, издателство на БАН, 1981 стр. 100.
  18. ^ "Национален регистар на објекти кои се заштитно културно наследство" [National register of buildings that are protected cultural heritage] (in Macedonian). Ministry of Culture. 2012. Archived from the original on August 9, 2021. Retrieved May 4, 2022.
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