Krste Misirkov

Krste Petkov Misirkov (Macedonian: Крсте Петков Мисирков, pronounced [kr̩'stɛ pɛ'tkɔf mi'sirkɔf]; Bulgarian: Кръстьо/Кръстю Петков Мисирков; Serbian: Крста Петковић Мисирков;[1][2] 18 November 1874 – 26 July 1926) was a philologist, journalist, historian and ethnographer from the region of Macedonia.

Krste Petkov Misirkov
Portrait of Krste P. Misirkov
Portrait of Krste P. Misirkov
BornKrste Petkov Misirkov
(1874-11-18)18 November 1874
Postol, Ottoman Empire
Died26 July 1926(1926-07-26) (aged 51)
Sofia, Kingdom of Bulgaria
Pen name"K. Pelski", "Sekol"
Occupationphilologist, teacher, historian, ethnographer, translator and professor.
CitizenshipOttoman, Moldavian, Russian, Bulgarian
EducationDoctor's degree of philology and history
Alma materFaculty of philology and history at the University of Saint Petersburg
Genrehistory, linguistics, philology, politics, ethnography and analytics.
Subjecthistory, language and ethnicity
Notable worksOn Macedonian Matters
SpouseEkaterina Mihaylovna - Misirkova
ChildrenSergey Misirkov
Signature

In the period between 1903 and 1905, he published a book and a scientific magazine in which he affirmed the existence of a Macedonian national identity separate from other Balkan nations, and attempted to codify a standard Macedonian language based on the central Western Macedonian dialects. A survey conducted in the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) found Misirkov to be "the most significant Macedonian of the 20th century".[3] For his efforts to codify a standard Macedonian language, he is often considered "the founder of the modern Macedonian literary language".[4]

On the other hand, he was one of the founders of the pro-Bulgarian Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Circle established in 1900 in St. Petersburg.[5] In 1905 he began publishing predominantly articles, written from a Bulgarian nationalist perspective in the IMARO-affiliated press. In his diary written during the Balkan Wars, he espoused pro-Bulgarian views. During the First World War, he became a member of the local parliament in Bessarabia as a representative of the Bulgarian minority there. Misirkov returned to Macedonian nationalism for a period in 1919. During the 1920s his views changed again, and he encouraged the Macedonian Slavs to adopt a Bulgarian national identity. Misirkov died in 1926 and was buried in the Sofia Central Cemetery with the financial support from the Ministry of Education, as an honoured Bulgarian educator.

Because Misirkov expressed conflicting views about the national identity of the Macedonian Slavs at different points in his life, his national affiliation and legacy remain a matter of dispute between Bulgaria and North Macedonia. While Misirkov's work and personality remain highly controversial and disputed, there have been attempts among international scholars to reconcile the conflicting and self-contradictory statements made by Misirkov. According to historian Ivo Banac, Misirkov viewed both himself and the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians, and espoused pan-Bulgarian patriotism in a larger Balkan context. However, in the context of the larger Bulgarian unit/nation, Misirkov sought both cultural and national differentiation from the other Bulgarians and called both himself and the Slavs of Macedonia, Macedonians.

Biography
Misirkov's birth house in Postol

Early years

Krste Petkov Misirkov was born on 18 November 1874 in the village of Postol in the Salonica vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Pella, Greece). He started his elementary education in the local Greek school, where he studied until the sixth grade, but the bad financial situation of his family could not support his further education at that point and he left the school. At that period, the Serbian government began to promote efforts to espouse a pro-Serbian Macedonian nationalism and to recruit young people in order to "Serbianize" them.[6][7][8] After some period, Misirkov applied and was granted a scholarship by a Serbian association, "The Society of St. Sava".[9]

Misirkov in Serbia and Bulgaria

For a period, Misirkov studied in Serbia. Soon after he realized that the promotion of pro-Serbian ideas and propaganda was the main goal of the education provided by the Society of St. Sava.[6] The politics practiced by the association forced Misirkov and the other Macedonian students to participate in a students protest and revolt against the Society of St. Sava. As a result, Misirkov and other companions moved from Belgrade to Sofia. He then faced a similar situation in Bulgaria, this time being confronted with pro-Bulgarian propaganda.[6] Misirkov again went to Serbia to continue his education, but without any success as he was rejected by the Society of St. Sava, most likely for his part in the protests conducted against it. Since he was willing to get higher education, he was forced, by a chain of events, to enroll in a theological school for teachers. Similar to the Society of St. Sava, this school as well had its own propagandistic goals which resulted in another revolt of the students.[10] As a result of it, the school ended its programs and the students were sent throughout Serbia. Misirkov was sent to Šabac, where he finished his fourth secondary education course, but this time in the local gymnasium, which happened to be his last course.[9] In both Serbia and Bulgaria, Misirkov and his friend were treated as Serbs or Bulgarians[6][9] in order to be accepted in the educational system. After the gymnasium, even though he graduated, Misirkov enrolled in another secondary school for teachers in Belgrade, where he graduated in 1895. During this time, particularly in 1893, Misirkov became a member of an association of Macedonian students called "Vardar".[11]

Misirkov in the Russian Empire

His qualifications obtained in Belgrade were not recognized in Russia. Misirkov had to study from the very beginning in the Seminary at Poltava. In 1897, he was able to enter the Saint Petersburg Imperial University. Here he entered at first in the Bulgarian Students Association and the Secret Macedonian-Adrianople Circle. Misirkov wrote about that part of his life in the article "School and socialism"[12] "– In 1897 I went to Petrograd University and for five years was among the Bulgarian studentship as Bulgarian and member of the Bulgarian Student Society."[13] Misirkov carried out here his first scholarly lecture on the ethnography and history of the Balkan Peninsula before the members of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society.

On November 15, 1900, Misirkov, a third-year student in the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the time, and other students in Russia created a students' circle in Saint Petersburg. The main objective of the circle was the political autonomy of the Macedonia and Thrace, declared by IMRO, and implemented and guaranteed by the Great Powers. In a letter sent to the President of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee on 28 November of the same year, the founders of the circle stated that, "there's no Bulgarian who is not interested in the situation and fate of that part of our homeland, which continue to groan under the yoke of the tyrant." At that time, Misirkov considered the Slavic peoples of Macedonia and Thrace as Bulgarian.[14] He graduated in 1902.[11]

Misirkov's application sent to the Yugoslav authorities where he asks for a job in Macedonia
This plaque in Odessa, Ukraine indicates the house where the Macedonian national activist lived and worked in the period 1909–1913.
Questionnaire written in the Russian language filled by Misirkov as a member of Sfatul Țării in Bessarabia, where He defined himself as a Bulgarian.

Later Misirkov abandoned the university and left for Ottoman Macedonia.

Return to Ottoman Macedonia

Facing financial obstacles to continue his postgraduate education, he accepted the proposal of the Bulgarian Exarchate to be appointed teacher in one of the high schools in Bitola. There he befriended the Russian consul in Bitola. He began to plan the opening of local schools and publishing textbooks in Macedonian,[6] but the Ilinden Uprising in 1903 and the assassination of the Russian Consul changed his plans and he soon returned to Russia. In Russia, Misirkov published different articles about the Ilinden Uprising and the justifications and causes as to why the Consul was assassinated. Soon afterwards, he wrote the book On Macedonian Matters and published it in Sofia.[15] Misirkov attacked the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), among others, as a Bulgarian creation. As a result, he was persecuted by IMRO, and it is believed that its members destroyed a sizable amount of copies of his book.[16]

Return to Russian Empire

In 1905, he left Saint Petersburg for Berdiansk. There, he resumed publication of the journal Vardar and was given a post as assistant master in a grammar school.[17][6] In this period, Misirkov halted his advocation of Macedonian separatism and opposed the Serbian position on the Macedonian Question.[18][19] After 1905, he published pro-Bulgarian articles and even categorically renounced the point of his book On Macedonian Matters,[13][20] although this behavior might have been caused by the many threats made towards him warning him to stop fighting for Macedonian separatism from Bulgaria.[6] On 18 April 1907, Misirkov began to cooperate with the Sofia magazine "Macedonian-Adrianople Review", edited by Nikola Naumov, which was de facto organ of the IMRO. On 24 April 1909, in Odessa, Misirkov printed his work about the South Slavic epic legends on Krali Marko.[21] On 1 October 1909, he printed the article, "The foundations of a Serbian-Bulgarian rapprochement" in the magazine, "Bulgarian Collection", edited by Bulgarian diplomats and officials in St. Petersburg. During this period, a Slavic Festival was held in Sofia in 1910 with Misirkov invited to attend as its guest of honor.[22] In 1910–1911, he translated the book of the Bulgarian geographer Prof. Atanas Ishirkov, "Bulgaria" from Bulgarian to Russian.[23]

When the First Balkan War had begun, Misirkov went to Macedonia as a Russian war correspondent. In Macedonia, he could follow the military operations of the Bulgarian Army. Misirkov published some articles in the Russian press demanding that the Ottomans be driven out of Macedonia. In 1913 after the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, Misirkov went back to Russia, where he worked as a teacher in the Bulgarian language schools in Odessa.[24] Later, he was appointed as a teacher of the Bulgarian language school in Chișinău. While working as a teacher in Chișinău, Misirkov sent а letter to the Bulgarian academic Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan with a request to be assigned as a professor at Sofia University. That request clearly indicates his self-identification at that time:[25] As a Bulgarian, I would willingly return to Bulgaria, if there is a need of a scientific research of the fate of the Bulgarian lands, especially Macedonia..."[26] A shorter letter with similar content was sent to another professor at Sofia University – Vasil Zlatarski with the request to be assigned as a chosen at the newly established department for history of Macedonia and the other western Bulgarian lands.[27]

At that point, Misirkov made contacts with the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society, which started publishing the journal, Makedonski glas (Macedonian Voice) in Russian. Misirkov published in this magazine for some period under the pseudonym "K. Pelski".[9][6] Misirkov defended and wrote about Macedonian ideals which, according to him, were in contrast with Bulgarian ideals and the general Bulgarian populace.

After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Bessarabia became a democratic republic, and he was elected a member of the local parliament Sfatul Țării as a representative of the Bulgarian minority. At the same time, Misirkov worked as a secretary in the Bulgarian educational commission in Bessarabia.[24] In March 1918, unification between Bessarabia and Romania was declared. On 21 May 1918, Misirkov openеd a Bulgarian language course in Bolhrad. Misirkov proceeded to take a clandestine trip to Bulgaria in order to procure textbooks for the students, but after his return in November, he was arrested by the Kingdom of Romania authorities, still at war with Bulgaria and was extradited to Bulgaria.

Last years in Bulgaria
The last picture of Misirkov

After being expelled by the Romanian authorities, Misirkov returned to Sofia at the end of 1918, where he spent one year as a head of the Historical Department of the National Museum of Ethnography. He proceeded to work as a teacher and director of the high schools in Karlovo and Koprivshtitsa.[17][24] During this period (but before 1923), IMRO marked Misirkov as harmful to its cause and supposedly considering his assassination, but reconsidered after he met with a representative of the organization.[28] In this period, Misirkov also advocated a Bulgarian identity for the Macedonians.[29] He also resumed his journalistic activity and published many articles on the Macedonian Question in the Bulgarian press. Misirkov died in 1926 and was buried in the graveyards in Sofia with the financial support of 5000 levs from the Ministry of Education, as an honored educator.[30]

Works

In his life, Misirkov wrote one book, one diary, published one issue of a magazine and wrote more than thirty articles. His book On the Macedonian Matters was published in Sofia in 1903. The magazine was called Vardar and was published in 1905 in Odessa, Russian Empire. The articles that Misirkov wrote were published in different newspapers and focused on different topics. The book, magazine and a number of his article were written in the Central Macedonian dialects, which are the basis of Modern Macedonian.

Front cover of On the Macedonian Matters
The first page of the magazine Vardar
The last page of Misirkov's diary of 1913

On the Macedonian Matters
Main article: On the Macedonian Matters

One of the most important works of Misirkov is the Macedonian book On the Macedonian Matters (Original: За македонцките работи) published in 1903 in Sofia, in which he laid down the principles of modern Macedonian.[31] This book was written in the Macedonian dialects from the area between Prilep and Bitola.[32] It argued in favor of national separation, the establishment of autonomous national institutions within the Ottoman Empire, and the standardization of a distinct Macedonian language. Misirkov attacked both the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO) as agents of the Bulgarian interests in Macedonia. According to this book and Misirkov himself, the Macedonian literary language should be based on dialects from the central part of Macedonia, which were used in the book itself. Furthermore, Misirkov appealed to the Ottoman authorities for eventual recognition of a separate Macedonian nation. Misirkov admitted that there was no Macedonian nation, but argued that it should be created, when the necessary historical circumstances would arise.[33]

Vardar magazine

Misirkov was the author and editor of the first scientific magazine in Macedonian.[34] The magazine Vardar was published in 1905 in Odessa, Russian Empire. The magazine was published only once, because of the financial problems that Misirkov had been facing with at that time. He expressed views about the national distinctiveness of the Macedonians.[11] According to Blaže Ristovski, its orthography was almost the same as the orthography of standard Macedonian.[35] The magazine was meant to include several different scientific disciplines, mostly concerned with Macedonia.

Articles
Misirkov's On the Macedonian Matters commemorated as one of the key points of Macedonia's history, at the Makedonium memorial in Kruševo

During his life, Misirkov published many articles for different newspapers and magazines. The articles deal with Macedonia, Macedonian culture, ethnology, politics and nation on one hand and with the Bulgarian nation, politics and ethnography on the other. Misirkov published his articles in Macedonian, Russian and Bulgarian and he published them either in Russia or in Bulgaria. Most of the articles were signed by his birth name, but there are articles that are signed with his pseudonym K. Pelski.

Diary

In 2006, a handwritten diary by Misirkov written during his stay in Russia in 1913 was discovered. It was declared authentic by Bulgarian and Macedonian experts and was published in 2008.[36] The content of the diary clearly shows that at the time, Misirkov identified himself as a Macedonian Bulgarian and had a clear pro-Bulgarian stance.[37][38][39] It has given rise to new public discussion over Misirkov's stances on Bulgarian and Macedonian ethnicity.[40] Per academic Alexis Heraclides, Misirkov's stance was not clear-cut and he sounded Macedonian at times too.[41] The manuscript includes 381 pages written in the Russian language. Misirkov wrote it in Kotovsk's nearby village of Klimentove, where he lived and worked at the time. It contains also articles and excerpts from the Russian press of that time.

Dialectology and ethnography

In several publications, Misirkov made an attempt to determine the border between the Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian language, including in the Bulgarian dialect area, nearly all of Torlakian and Macedonian dialects.[42] Misirkov pointed there, that the population in Pomoravlje is autochthonous and Bulgarian by origin, excluding any later migrations during the Ottoman rule from Bulgaria.[24] According to Krste Misirkov, Krali Marko epic songs in Serbia, the so-called Bugarstici[43] are a result from Bulgarian musical influence over the Serbian folk music.

Legacy

During the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the idea of a separate Macedonian ethnicity was as of yet promoted by small circles of intellectuals.[44] Then, most of the Slavic people in Macedonia considered themselves Bulgarian, in line with Ottoman classification of Bulgarian Millet,[45][46][47] and Macedonian separatist ideas failed to gain wide popular support.[48][49][50] At different points in his life, Misirkov expressed conflicting statements about the ethnicity of the Slavs living in Macedonia, including his own ethnicity. According to Ivo Banac, Misirkov viewed himself and the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians, and espoused pan-Bulgarian patriotism, but in the context of the larger Bulgarian nation, Misirkov sought cultural and national differentiation, separating the Macedonians.[51] Misirkov's ideas had a small impact in his own time and he was re-discovered in the post-WW2 era.[19]

Monument of Misirkov in Pella Square in Skopje, North Macedonia

View of Misirkov in Bulgaria

In Bulgaria, Misirkov is regarded as a controversial educator with scientific contribution to Bulgarian dialectology and ethnography. He graduated from the Belgrade University as a student of Prof. Stojan Novaković and was influenced by his ideas.[52] At that time, Novaković was a prominent proponent of the Macedonism, thereby promoting Serbian interests in the region of Macedonia.[53] Afterwards Misirkov met several times with him and Novaković's diplomatic activity in St. Petersburg played significant role for the foundation of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society.[54] However, Misirkov later developed a kind of Serbophobia.[55] He also argued that the Slavic population of Macedonia was not "a formless paste" but a "well baked Bulgarian bread".[56][57] Bulgarian historians believe that the post-WWII Yugoslavian Communist regime significantly altered his writings to support the notion of a "Macedonian nation", distinct from the Bulgarian one. According to Bulgarian observers, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, polemics have also arisen in the Republic of Macedonia about the identity of Misirkov.[58][59]

View of Misirkov in North Macedonia

In North Macedonia, Misirkov is regarded as the most prominent Macedonian publicist, philologist and linguist who set the principles of the standard Macedonian in the early 20th century. Misirkov is also the author of the first scientific magazine in Macedonian and because of his contributions to the Macedonian national cause, he has been widely regarded as the greatest Macedonian of the 20th century by the Macedonian public.[3] After World War II, the new Macedonian historiography started to regard Misirkov's persona highly.[60] His work and ideas became a major field of exploration for scholars from the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, who used them to support the claim that there was a Macedonian national consciousness in the 19th century.[61] In his honor, many books and scientific works have been published and the Institute for Macedonian language "Krste Misirkov" is named after him.[62]

There is a debate about Misirkov's ethnicity in North Macedonia issued by Dr. Rastislav Terzioski, who brought to light memos from Russian archives which clearly stated his pro-Bulgarian positions.[63] The publication of his 1913 diary, which revealed his pro-Bulgarian views, sparked a major controversy in Skopje.[39] The Social Democratic Union of Macedonia even called for the dismissal of Zoran Todorovski, who was then director of the State Archives of Macedonia. Regarding Misirkov's signature as a "Macedonian Bulgarian", the Macedonian historians and linguists argue that it means a Macedonian person with a Bulgarian citizenship.[64] On the other hand, according to Vlado Popovski, Misirkov's usage of the term "Macedonian Bulgarian" was only a tactic as a consequence of the Balkan wars and the Bucharest Agreement.[65] In 1914 and many times after that, he repeated his views about the Macedonian national existence.[66]

See also

Notes
  1. Орган Историјског института, Српске академије наука и уметности · 38. том (1992). "Историјски часопис": 290. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. Михайлов, Иван. "Истинският образ на неуравновесения Кр. Мисирков".
  3. http://star.dnevnik.com.mk/default.aspx?pBroj=1884&stID=4305 Македонија мора да го има Крсте Мисирков во своите пазуви Archived 21 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Loring M. Danforth (1997). The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World. Princeton University Press. p. 50. ISBN 0-691-04356-6.
  5. Записки за България и Руско-Българските отношения: бележки за събитията на деня (5 юли-30 август 1913 г.), Крсте Петков Мисирков, Редактор Цочо Билярски, Издателство „Анико“, 2011, ISBN 9789548247160; стр. 14
  6. Giorgio Nurigiani (1972). "The Macedonian Genius Through the Centuries". D. Harvey Publishers. pp. 160–176. Retrieved 27 April 2023.
  7. Who Are the Macedonians? Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000, ISBN 1850655340, p. 63.
  8. Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Chris Kostov, Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3034301960, p. 66.
  9. Literature of the Macedonian language, Georgi Stalev, Skopje
  10. "Кръсте Мисирков и за българските работи в Македония", Проф. д-р Веселин Трайков, Знание ЕООД, 2000, ISBN 954621177X, p. 12. Archived 18 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Ersoy, Ahmet; Górny, Maciej; Kechriotis, Vangelis (eds.). Modernism: Representations of National Culture. Central European University Press. p. 351. ISBN 9786155211942.
  12. Мир, XXXI, бр. 7476 от 26 май 1925
  13. "Проф. д-р Веселин Трайков – "Кръсте П. Мисирков и за българските работи в Македония", София, 2000, Издателство "Знание"". Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
  14. "НБКМ-БИА, ф. 224, Върховен македоно-одрински комитет, София, а.е. 23, л. 397 За (SS. Cyril and Methodius National Library-Bulgarian historical archive, facsimile 224, Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee, Sofia, а.е 23, sheet 397 3a)". Archived from the original on 28 April 2013. Retrieved 19 February 2013.
  15. Hugh Poulton (2000). Who are the Macedonians?. C. Hurst & Co. Publishers. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-85065-534-3.
  16. Dimitar Bechev (2009). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia. Scarecrow Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-8108-6295-1.
  17. Георги Маргаритов. В Скопие продължават да показват само едното лице на Кръсте Мисирков. в-к "Македония", брой 10, 10 март 1999 г.
  18. Victor Roudometof (2002). Collective Memory, National Identity, and Ethnic Conflict: Greece, Bulgaria, and the Macedonian Question. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-275-97648-4.
  19. Klaus Roth; Ulf Brunnbauer (2008). Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe. LIT Verlag Münster. p. 139. ISBN 978-3-8258-1387-1.
  20. К. Мисирков. "БЕЛЕЖКИ ПО ЮЖНОСЛАВЯНСКАТА ФИЛОЛОГИЯ И ИСТОРИЯ /КЪМ ВЪПРОСА ЗА ПОГРАНИЧНАТА ЛИНИЯ МЕЖДУ БЪЛГАРСКИЯ И СРЬБСКО-ХЪРВАТСКИЯ ЕЗИЦИ И НАРОДИ/“ Българска сбирка, XVII, януари 1910, кн. 1, с. 39–42; февруари 1910, кн. 2, с. 100; маи 1910, кн. 5, с. 328; г. XVIII, март 1911, кн. 3, с. 197; април 1911. кн. 4, с. 265–267.
  21. The South Slav Epic Legends on the Marriage of King Volkashin in Connection with the Reasons for the Popularity of Marko Kralé amongst the South Slavs (Odessa, 1909).
  22. Крсте Петков Мисирков Записки за България и Руско-Българските отношения: бележки за събитията на деня (5 юли-30 август 1913 г.) редактор Цочо Василев Билярски, "Анико", 2011, ISBN 954824716X, стр. 30.
  23. "Болгария съ картов блгарскихъ железнихъ дорогъ и 44 илюстрациями (Предисловие переводчика)", Одеса, 1911 година
  24. Трайков, Веселин (2000). Кръсте Мисирков и за българските работи в Македония. Знание. ISBN 9789546211774.
  25. Н. Велев, Из политико-обществената дейност на Кръстю Петков Мисирков. Сп. „Исторически преглед”, кн. 5, 1968, с. 70–86.
  26. К. П. Мисирков – дневник 5 юли – 30 август 1913, София-Скопие, 2008, Държавна агенция „Архиви“ на Република България-Държавен архив на Република Македония, стр. 168.
  27. K. P. Misirkov – Diary 5 July to 30 August 1913, Sofia-Skopje, 2008, Published by State Agency "Archives" of the Republic of Bulgaria & State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia, p. 168
  28. Промемория на Никола Трайков за разговор с проф. Петко Стоянов за Кръстю Мисирков, София, 8 март 1963 г Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine.
  29. Bruce Bueno De Mesquita; Johanna DeStefano (2003). When Languages Collide: Perspectives on Language Conflict, Language Competition, and Language Coexistence. Ohio State University Press. p. 264. ISBN 978-0-8142-0913-4.
  30. "ЦДИА, фонд № 177, Министерство на просвещението, опис № 2, а.е.230, л.22". Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 9 July 2007.
  31. Pieter Plas (2005). Developing Cultural Identity in the Balkans: Convergence Vs. Divergence. Peter Lang. p. 30. ISBN 978-90-5201-297-1.
  32. The Former Yugoslavia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook, Matjaž Klemenčič, Mitja Žagar, p. 74: This work on the Macedonian language was written in Central Macedonian dialect, which he also recommended as a basis for a future literary language
    • "The term 'project' tackles likewise the specific temporal orientation of the initial stage of formation of Macedonian ethnic nationalism: the Macedonian self-determination is seen by Misirkov as a future ideal and his national manifesto on the Macedonian Matters (Sofia, 1903) recognizes the lack of actual correlation between the concept of Macedonian Slavic ethnicity and the real self-identifications of the majority of Macedonian Slavs. In a rather demiurgical way, Misirkov is the first who exposes the basic 'ethnographic' characteristics of what he regards as 'inexistent' but 'possible' and 'necessary' Macedonian Slavic ethnicity..." Tchavdar Marinov, "Between Political Autonomism and Ethnic Nationalism: Competing Constructions of Modern Macedonian National Ideology (1878–1913)", p. 3.
    • "Misirkov lamented that "no local Macedonian patriotism" existed and would have to be created. He anticipated that Macedonians would respond to his proposal with a series of baffled questions: "What sort of new Macedonian nation can this be when we and our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have always been called Bulgarians? ... Macedonian as a nationality has never existed, they will say, and it does not exist now." (...) Misirkov answered these objections by observing that national loyalties change with time: "What has not existed in the past may still be brought into existence later, provided that the appropriate historical circumstances arise." Misirkov, in short, wanted the Ottoman state to promote Macedonian nation-building, calling for "official recognition"(...)" Region, Regional Identity and Regionalism in Southeastern Europe, Klaus Roth, Ulf Brunnbauer, LIT Verlag Münster, 2008, ISBN 3825813878, p. 138.
    • "The idea of a separate (Slavic) Macedonian nationhood most certainly had its antecedents before the 1930s – nor is that surprising, considering the political history of the area. Krste Misirkov, the "first creator of a clear and rounded representation, of argued and systematic conception about the national essence of Macedonian people," brought arguments in favor of Macedonian "national separatism" in his on Macedonian matters, but still considered the Macedonian question a part of a larger Bulgarian complex, if for no other reason than linguistic. Misirkov's pan-Bulgarian patriotism was based largely on the kinship of language, and his pan-Bulgarian positions, which he used, moreover frontally, against the Serbs and Greeks." The National Question in Yugoslavia: Origins, History, Politics, Ivo Banac, Cornell University Press, 1988, ISBN 0801494931, p. 327.
    • "Misirkov speaks, for instance, of the relations between "the Macedonian peoples" [makedonckite narodi], of the "convergence of interests of all Macedonian peoples." The term "nation" appears rarely and is contrasted to the term "nationality": e.g., Misirkov suggests that, in Macedonia, there are many "nationalities" [nacionalnosti], while "a distinct Macedonian Slavic nation [naciia]" does not yet exist (p. 46). This usage actually implies that the "nation" is seen as a political phenomenon of a "higher" degree, transcending a multiplicity of actual ethnic and/or confessional particularities." We, the People: Politics of National Peculiarity in Southeastern Europe, Diana Mishkova, European University Press, 2009, ISBN 9639776289, p. 133.
    • "Misirkov accepted that his project for Macedonian particularist nationalism broke with considerable Bulgarian sentiment. He admitted both that there was "no local Macedonian patriotism", and that ordinary Macedonians would see Macedonian particularism as a novelty: "What sort of new Macedonian nation can this be when we and our fathers and grandfathers and great-grandfathers have always been called Bulgarians?" Responding to these arguments, Misirkov showed a surprising acceptance that national communities evolve in response to events: "what has not existed in the past may still be brought into existence later, provided that the appropriate historical circumstances arise". Misirkov thus tried to create the appropriate historical circumstances." Sundry Macedonias, Alexander Mark Maxwell, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 1998, pp. 50–51.
  34. Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation, John Shea, p. 204: "After the failure of the Ilinden rebellion, Misirkov returned to St. Petersburg, and in 1905 he launched the journal Vardar in Macedonian."
  35. Вардар: научно-литературно и општествено-политичко списание на К. П. Мисирков (Vardar: scientific-literary and socio-political magazine of K. P. Misirkov), Blaže Ristovski, Institute of Macedonian language "Krste Misirkov", Skopje, 1966, p. 13.
  36. Cvetanova, G. (2022). Reflections on Krste Misirkov’s theory: From ethnocultural entity to politically legitimate nation. Slavia Meridionalis, 22, Article 2672. p. 8.
  37. That said, it is worth noting that Misirkov himself returned to a Bulgarian nationalist position by 1907, and his 1913 diary articulates explicit Bulgarianism. on p. 139 in: Al. Maxwell, “Slavic Macedonian Nationalism: From 'Regional' to 'Ethnic.'” Ethnologia Balkanica 11 (2007): 127–155.
  38. Igot Despot, The Balkan Wars in the Eyes of the Warring Parties: Perceptions and Interpretations, 2012, iUniverse, ISBN 9781475947038, p. 162.
  39. Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia, 2019; Rowman & Littlefield, ISBN 9781538119624, p. 208.
  40. "Diary Reveals Father of Macedonian Nation Had Bulgarian Identity, Sofia News Agency, 23 April 2008, Wednesday". Archived from the original on 26 June 2008. Retrieved 10 August 2008.
  41. Alexis Heraclides, The Macedonian Question and the Macedonians: A History, 2021, Routledge, ISBN 9780429266362, p. 174.
  42. See: Мисирков, Кръстьо (1898). Значението на моравското или ресавското наречие за съвременната и историческа етнография на Балканския полуостров. Български преглед, година V, книга І, стр. 121–127; Мисирков, Кръстьо (1910, 1911). Бележки по южно-славянска филология и история (Към въпроса за пограничната линия между българския и сръбско-хърватски езици и народи), Одеса, 30.XII.1909 г. Българска сбирка.
  43. The Bugarstica: A Bilingual Anthology of the Earliest Extant South Slavic Folk Narrative Song (Illinois Medieval Studies) John S. Miletich, ISBN 0-252-01711-0, University of Illinois Press.
  44. Dimitris Livanios (2008). The Macedonian Question: Britain and the Southern Balkans 1939–1949. OUP Oxford. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-19-152872-9.
  45. Center for Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe, Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE) – "Macedonians of Bulgaria". Archived 23 July 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  46. 154 Studia Theologica V, 3/2007, 147 – 176 Alexander Maxwell, Krste Misirkov's call for Macedonian Autocephaly: religious nationalism as instrumental political tactic.
  47. Sperling, James; Kay, Sean; Papacosma, S. Victor (2003). Limiting institutions?: the challenge of Eurasian security governance. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. p. 57. ISBN 978-0-7190-6605-4. Macedonian nationalism is a new phenomenon. In the early twentieth century, there was no separate Slavic Macedonian identity
  48. Loring M. Danforth (1997). The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World. Princeton University Press. p. 64. ISBN 0-691-04356-6.
  49. Rae, Heather (2002). State identities and the homogenisation of peoples. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 278. ISBN 0-521-79708-X. Despite the recent development of Macedonian identity, as Loring Danforth notes, it is no more or less artificial than any other identity. It merely has a more recent ethnogenesis – one that can therefore more easily be traced through the recent historical record.
  50. Zielonka, Jan; Pravda, Alex (2001). Democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 422. ISBN 978-0-19-924409-6. Unlike the Slovene and Croatian identities, which existed independently for a long period before the emergence of SFRY Macedonian identity and language were themselves a product of federal Yugoslavia, and took shape only after 1944.
  51. The national question in Yugoslavia: origins, history, politics, Ivo Banac, Cornell University Press, 1988, ISBN 0-8014-9493-1, p. 327.
  52. Църнушанов, Коста. Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него. Унив. изд. "Св. Климент Охридски", София, 1992.
  53. "Since the Bulgarian idea, as it is well-known, is deeply rooted in Macedonia, I think it is almost impossible to shake it completely by opposing it merely with the Serbian idea. This idea, we fear, would be incapable, as opposition pure and simple, of suppressing the Bulgarian idea. That is why the Serbian idea will need an ally that could stand in direct opposition to Bulgarianism and would contain in itself the elements which could attract the people and their feelings and thus sever them from Bulgarianism. This ally I see in Macedonism...." from the report of S. Novaković to the Minister of Education in Belgrade about "Macedonism" as a transitional stage in Serbianization of the Macedonian Bulgarians; see idem. Cultural and Public Relations of the Macedonians with Serbia in the XIXth c.), Skopje, 1960, p. 178.
  54. Novaković initiated the establishment of closer Serbian-Russian relations as consul in St. Petersburg, where he supported the local Macedonists as Misirkov and Chupovski, see: Angel G. Angelov, The European Legacy: Toward New Paradigms, 1470-1316, Volume 2, Issue 3, 1997, Pages 411 – 417. and the Memoirs of Hristo Shaldev, Macedonian revolutionary (1876–1962), Macedonian Patriotic Organization "TA" (Adelaide, Australia, 1993), The Slav Macedonian Student Society in St. Petersburg, pp. 14–21.
  55. "Кръсте Мисирков и за българските работи в Македония", Проф. д-р Веселин Трайков, Знание ЕООД, 2000, ISBN 954621177X, стр. 12.
  56. Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него Коста Църнушанов, Унив. изд. "Св. Климент Охридски", София, 1992 г. стр. 42.
  57. д-р Растислав Терзиоски "За некои ставови на К. П. Мисирков за македонското прашање (дилеми и толкувања), Зборник на МАНУ "Делото на Крсте Мисирков“, том 1 од Меѓународниот собир по повод стогодишнината од излегувањето на книгата "За Македонцките работи“ (Скопје 2005), стр. 87–90.
  58. "Култура, Сто години Илинден или сто години Мисирков? Чавдар Маринов, 30 April 2004". Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 4 May 2023.
  59. Списание България – Македония, Брой 2, 2010 г. Неизвестният досега дневник на Мисирков разбуни духовете край Вардара, Светослав Делчев.
  60. Ersoy, Ahmet; Górny, Maciej; Kechriotis, Vangelis, eds. (2010). Modernism: Representations of National Culture. Central European University Press. p. 353. ISBN 9786155211942.
  61. Vasile, Cristian; Pălășan, Corina, eds. (2011). History of Communism in Europe vol. 2 / 2011: Avatars of Intellectuals under Communism. Zeta Books. p. 247. ISBN 9786068266145.
  62. Daskalov, Roumen; Mishkova, Diana, eds. (2013). Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume Two: Transfers of Political Ideologies and Institutions. BRILL. p. 499. ISBN 9789004261914.
  63. Во суштина, целта на Терзиоски е искажана еден пасос каде што авторот констатира дека е оправдана и потребна „извесна преоцена на некои искажани ‘конечни вистини’ за делото и личноста на К. П. Мисирков“. Интересно е што тежнението за преоцената на „делото и личноста на Мисирков“ се појавува во сегашните времиња (сто години по објавувањето на „За македонцките работи“) и е базирано врз, главно, службени преписки (Терзиоски најчесто цитира официјални писма, напишани до руските официјалисимуси, некаде од 1911 до 1919 година), што секако не пречи уште во воведот на излагањето да биде констатирано дека „К. П. Мисирков своерачно се потпишува како македонски Бугарин; говори за неспорното бугарско население во Македонија...расправа за бугарското сознание на словенското население во Македонија...жали за нереализирањето на Санстефанските решенија...“ и така натаму. Како илустрација се даваат писмата на Мисирков до министерот за надворешни работи на Русија, каде што се апелира „македонските Бугари“ да се оттргнат од јаремот на „шумадиските свињари“, а поентира со тоа дека „никогаш нема да престанеме да се чувствуваме Македонци или што е едно те исто со македонски Бугари“. Во едно писмо од 1914 г., Мисирков вели, дека “Македонци значи единствено македонски Бугари”. Го обвинува рускиот конзул Ростковски, дека под српско влијание сметал македонското население само за “словенско” и вели дека тоа било заблуда под српско влијание. Тагува за поделената во Балканските војни Бугарија.” For more see: Растислав Терзиоски „За некои ставови на К. П. Мисирков за македонското прашање (дилеми и толкувања), Зборник на МАНУ „Делото на Крсте Мисирков“, том 1 од Меѓународниот собир по повод стогодишнината од излегувањето на книгата „За Македонцките работи“ (Скопје 2005), стр. 87–90.
  64. Експерти: Нема дилеми за идентитет на Мисирков Archived 10 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine on a1.com.mk
  65. "Виктор Цветаноски - Враќањето на Мисирков, но не оној што го знаеме, Утрински весник". Archived from the original on 15 September 2009. Retrieved 25 April 2008.
  66. In 1914 Misirkov wrote: “…I’d use the words of Boris Sarafov, that we, the Macedonians are neither Serbs nor Bulgarians, but simply Macedonians…” (”The Macedonian and the Bulgarian national ideals", Macedonian voice, No. 10, Sankt Peterburg, 1914, pg. 11–14.); Д-p Блaжe Pиcтoвcки, "Kpcтe Мисирков (1874–1926) – прилог кон проучувањето на развитокот на македонската национална мисла, МАNU, Skopje, 1966.
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