Pande Eftimov

Pande Sotirov Eftimov (March 15, 1932-August 13, 2017)[1] was a Bulgarian journalist, poet and publicist from North Macedonia. Though, he is considered an ethnic Macedonian there.[2][3][4][5]

History

Childhood and education

Pande Eftimov was born in 1932 in the Prespa village of Pretor in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but today in present-day North Macedonia.[6] He was the grandson of the revolutionary from the IMRO Pande Sudzhov, killed by the Yugoslav authorities in 1927.[7] In 1943, as a child, Eftimov welcomed a Bulgarian delegation in Pretor, when Bulgarians entered this area, after the capitulation of Italy.[8] After the war Eftimov graduated from the Faculty of Philology at the University of Skopje, then in Communist Yugoslavia.[9]

Journalism, prison, and death

In 1956 he informed the Bulgarians about the finding of an important artifact called Bitola inscription. Eftimov photographed the stone slab and secretly carried the tape with the photos at the Bulgarian embassy in Belgrade. At that time he was appointed a teacher in the village of Lera, Bitola region. There he found part of the archives of the local Bulgarian school, which the Yugoslav authorities at the time had failed to burn. Later, the documents were handed over to Kosta Tsarnushanov, another publicist from Vardar Macedonia, living in Sofia.[9] During his early journalistic years and later in life, Eftimov stated his belief that Bulgarians in Macedonia and the country itself has been losing its identity ever since the actions of the Yugoslavian government from the 1930's onward against Bulgarian peoples and due to the nation's geographical isolation from Bulgaria.[10]

He participated in different illegal groups seeking Macedonia's independence, as it was envisioned by the IMRO. For that he spent 7 years in prison: between 1957 and 1961, as well as from 1971 to 1974. Eftimov was arrested also many other times by the Yugoslavs.[11] Meanwhile, he worked as journalist for the Skopje newspaper "Narodna Prosveta". After 1986 he participated in the process of forming the new VMRO-DPMNE party. In 2001 he published two books of poetry, printed in Bulgarian. In 2007 he received officially Bulgarian citizenship. He died on August 13, 2017 in Sofia.[9] On June 25, 2018, he was posthumously awarded with the Order of Stara Planina for his exceptionally great merits in preserving the Bulgarian national heritage in North Macedonia.[12]

See also

References
  1. "Софија со сочувство за македонскиот Бугарин Панде Ефтимов" [Sofia with condolences for the Macedonian Bulgarian Pande Eftimov]. Expres.mk (in Macedonian). August 15, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  2. "Падне Евтимов - великият българин" [Pande Evtimov - the Great Bulgarian]. Interview with Pande Evtimov, Radio Focus, 27 January 2011 (in Bulgarian). Паметта на българите, www.pamettanabulgarite.com. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
  3. Максимовски, Илија (1991). 'According to his court trial official documents No.273/72 in 1972, Pande declared himself as Macedonian and one of the reasons for his imprisonment was agitating for unification of Vardar,Egej and Pirin into one independent Macedonian state.' Политичкиот затвореник во Македонија. Skopje: MRTV. p. 91.
  4. Ристески, Д-р. Стојан (1995). Судени за Македонија (1945-1985). Ohrid: Macedonia Prima-Ohrid. ISBN 9989-619-03-4.
  5. According to Eftimov, there is a fear of saying that you are a Bulgarian in North Macedonia, but this should not be a reason for a person to stop fighting for his identity. Regarding the fact that many people are afraid to say it openly, there is a logical answer and it is that if you are a Bulgarian in North Macedonia, you are a national traitor, there is no work for you, the whole state apparatus lurks you and in the moment you do something with the slightest violation, the state blackes your life. For more see: Панде Ефтимов: Нямаме държавници и политици с отговорност за Македония. FROG NEWS; 13.03.2014.
  6. Панде Ефтимов - един от най-големите радетели на българското в Македония почина в Горна България. в-к Земя, 15 Август 2017.
  7. "Панде Ефтимов, неформалният лидер на българите в Република Македония: Само с факти от българската история не ще преборим агресията на македонизма" [Pande Eftimov, the informal leader of the Bulgarians in the Republic of Macedonia: We will not overcome the aggression of Macedonianism only with facts from Bulgarian history]. Fakel.bg (in Bulgarian). March 4, 2014. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  8. Николай Кочанков, От надежда към покруса: Западна Македония в българската външна политика (1941-1944); (2007) Херон Прес. София, ISBN 978-954-580-231-7.
  9. Съболезнователен адрес по повод кончината на Панде Ефтимов. на външните работи на Република България, 13 август 2017.
  10. Krastev, Nikolay (July 20, 2015). "Панде Ефтимов: Българите в Македония са изолирани от политиците в страната ни" [Pande Eftimov: Bulgarians in Macedonia are isolated from politicians in our country]. BNR.bg (in Bulgarian). Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  11. Петър Христов Петров (1994) Македония: история и политическа съдба, том 3, Изд-во "Знание" ООД, стр. 274, ISBN 954621129X.
  12. Костадин Филипов, Отново ще си спомним за Панде Ефтимов. БНТ1, 03.11.2018.

Pande Eftimov


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