Stefan Jakimov Dedov (Macedonian: Стефан Јакимов Дедов; Bulgarian: Стефан Якимов Дедов, romanizedStefan Yakimov Dedov; 28 October 1869 – 19 September 1914) was a journalist, writer and early proponent of the Macedonian Slavs' ethnonational distinctiveness.[2][3][4][5] He publicly expressed the idea of a Macedonian nation distinct from the Bulgarians, as well as a separate Macedonian language.[2][3][6] He also self-identified occasionally as a Bulgarian.[7]

Stefan Dedov
Стефан Дедов
Born
Stefan Jakimov Dedov

(1869-10-28)28 October 1869
Died19 September 1914(1914-09-19) (aged 44)
Cause of deathMurder
CitizenshipOttoman/Bulgarian[1]

Biography

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Dedov was born in 1869 in Ohrid in the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia). He worked as a teacher there prior to working as a postal worker in Berkovitsa and Ruse, Bulgaria.[2][8] In 1898, he moved to Belgrade, where he began studying at the Faculty of Law (1898-1902).[4] 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.[2] Later the Serbian government banned the club and suppressed the newspaper.[2]

 
First published issue of the newspaper Balkanski Glasnik, 7 July 1902.

In 1902, he went to Saint Petersburg together with Mišajkov and became one of the founders of Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society in October. Along with Mišajkov, the next month, he sent a memorandum to the Russian government calling for Macedonian autonomy, recognition of Macedonian Slavs as a distinct ethnic group and a distinct Macedonian Slavic language, as well as an independent church, among other things.[9]

Dedov went to Sofia in 1903 and published the newspaper Balkan.[10] There he espoused pro-Bulgarian views in his publications.[4][11] However he also aided Krste Petkov Misirkov 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.[2][12]

In 1904 he published the newspaper Kurier (Courier).[2] 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 activists, though he was suspected of being a pro-Serbian activist by the organization.[4] He was killed in 1914 by an associate of Todor Aleksandrov - Slave Ivanov.[2] Reporting on his death, the Belgrade newspaper Politika described him as a "honorary Serbian commercial agent".[13]

His son, Evtim Dedov was a prominent Bulgarian sports journalist, director of the Levski sports newspaper and general secretary of the "Levski" Sport Club.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ "No. 57 Акт за раждане (Birth certificate)" (PDF) (in Bulgarian). 8 March 1907. The born one is the legitimate son of Stefan Yakimov, Orthodox by faith, Bulgarian by nationality, Bulgarian citizen, publicist by occupation, aged thirty-eight, born in Ohrid, municipality of Macedonia, with permanent residence in the city of Sofia, the same municipality as Stefana E. Fileva, Orthodox by faith, Bulgarian by nationality, Bulgarian citizen, housewife by occupation, aged thirty, born in Ruse, same municipality, with permanent residence in Sofia, same municipality.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Македонска енциклопедија, том 1 (in Macedonian). Skopje: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите. 2009. p. 440. ISBN 9786082030234.
  3. ^ a b Panovski, Jovan (2002). Личности од Македонија [Persons from Macedonia] (in Macedonian). Скопје: Mi-An. p. 85. ISBN 9989-613-28-1.
  4. ^ a b c d Dimitar Bechev (2019). Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. p. 88. ISBN 9781538119624.
  5. ^ Roumen Dontchev Daskalov; Tchavdar Marinov (2013). Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies. BRILL. pp. 319, 444. ISBN 9789004250765.
  6. ^ Andrew Rossos (2013). Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History. Hoover Press. p. 96. ISBN 9780817948832.
  7. ^ Коста Църнушанов (1992). Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него (in Bulgarian). Университетско изд-во "Св. Климент Охридски". pp. 61–62.
  8. ^ Коста Църнушанов (1992). Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него (in Bulgarian). Университетско изд-во "Св. Климент Охридски". pp. 56–62.
  9. ^ Alexis Heraclides (2020). The Macedonian Question and the Macedonians: A History. Taylor & Francis. p. 155. ISBN 9781000289404.
  10. ^ Живодар Душков (2010). "Български периодични издания със заглавия ороними, Част I. 1878-1919" [Bulgarian periodicals titled oronyms (Part I. 1878-1919)] (PDF). Научни трудове на Русенския университет. 6.2 (in Bulgarian). Том 49: 155. In the program of the new capital newspaper "Balkan" (5 April-4 May 1903) is written: "It will protect the autonomy of Macedonia for the Macedonians and the independence of the Balkans for the Balkan people". The twelve issues were edited by A. S. Vasilev and Stefan Dedov (Yakimov). They provide information about the Turkish violence in Macedonia, the Serbian and Greek propaganda carried out there. The newspaper is printed by B. Zilber, Iv. K. Bozhinov and Yanko S. Kovatchev.
  11. ^ "We have all understood that the common Bulgarian fatherland is where the Bulgarians live, without distinguishing political borders...Now where to where to make a difference between a Macedonian and a free Bulgarian, when no such difference is made between a Macedonian and a Thracian?...Let it is not forgotten that we are fighting for the Bulgarian name, that we are suffering because we want to be Bulgarians..." (in "Kurier", issue 19, December 25, 1904). For more: Църнушанов, Коста. Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него. София, Университетско издателство „Св. Климент Охридски“, 1992. с. 61.
  12. ^ Македонска енциклопедија, том II (in Macedonian). Скопје: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите. 2009. p. 884. ISBN 9786082030241.
  13. ^ Ристовски, Блаже. Крсте П. Мисирков (1874 – 1926). Прилог кон проучувањето и развитокот на македонската национална мисла, Скопје 1966, с. 811, бел. 1095.
  14. ^ Евтим Дедов, "Спортен вестник Левски (за вечните съперници Левски и Славия)", брой 140, 141, 142, 143, София, 1935 година.
  15. ^ 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.