Blaže Koneski

Blaže Koneski ( _mk. Блаже Конески) (December 19, 1921 – December 7, 1993) (born in Nebregovo, near Prilep, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, now Republic of Macedonia) was one of the most distinguished Macedonian poets. He received his education in Prilep, Skopje, Kragujevac and Belgrade (enlisted in 1939 whilst modern-day Macedonia lay within Serbia's internal borders) with the name "Blagoje Konjević", Serbian: Благоје Коњевић), and also Sofia (in 1941-1944 at Sofia University, Bulgaria with the name "Blagoy Konev", Bulgarian: Благой Конев, listing Bulgarian as his nationality).

Biography

He received Royal Serbian stipend to study in the Kragujevac gymnasium. Later, he studied medicine in the University of Belgrade, and then changed to Serbian language and literature. After he finished his education he worked as a lector in the Macedonian National Theater, and in 1946 he became a professor at the philosophy department in Skopje. He was a member of the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences (MANU), and was elected as its president in 1967. Koneski was also a corresponding member of the Yugoslav, Serbian and Slovenian Academies of Sciences and Arts and honorary doctor of the Universities of Chicago and Krakow.

Koneski wrote poetry and prose. His most famous collections of poetry are "Mostot, Pesni, Zemjata i ljubovta, Vezilka, Zapisi, Cesmite, Stari i novi pesni, Seizmograf", and others. Also his collection of short stories "Lozje" is also famous.

However, Koneski is remembered for his work on codifying the Macedonian literary language. He is the author of the works "Za makedonskiot literaturen jazik", "Gramatika na makedonskiot literaturen jazik", "Istorija na makedonskiot jazik", and others. He was one of the editors of the Dictionary of the Macedonian Language.

Blaze Koneski has won a number of literary prizes among which are the AVNOJ prize, Njegoš prize, the Golden Wreath ("Zlaten Venec") of the Struga Poetry Evenings and others.

Criticism

Some Bulgarian academics have accused Blaze Koneski of manipulating historical facts for political goals, with regard to his statements about the past of Bulgarian poets and writers from Macedonia such as Kiril Peychinovich, Miladinov Brothers, Jordan Hadzikonstantinov and others. ["Скопската икона Блаже Конески, македонски лингвист или сръбски политработник?" Драгни Драгнев bg icon; "The icon from Skopje Blazhe Koneski, Macedonian linguist, or a Serbian political functionary" Dragni Dragnev - the author is born in Voden, Macedonia in 1932 and now resides in Canada]

Bibliography

*"Land and Love" (poetry, 1948)
*"An Orthography with a dictionary of the Macedonian language with Krum Tosev" (1950)
*"A Grammar of the Macedonian Literary Language" (book 1, 1952)
*"The Macedonian Literary Language" (1959)
*"Poems" (1953)
*"A Grammar of the Macedonian Literary Language" (book 2 , 1954)
*"The Embroideress" (poetry, 1955)
*"The Vineyard" (short stories, 1955)
*"Dictionary of the Macedonian language" (1961)
*"Poems" (1963)
*"A history of the Macedonian Language" (1965)
*"Dictionary of the Macedonian Language" (book 2, edited, 1965)
*"Dictionary of the Macedonian Language" (book 3, 1966)
*"Sterna (poetry, 1966), Hand - Shaking" (narrative poem, 1969)
*"The Language of the Macedonian Folk poetry" (1971)
*"Speeches and Essays" (1972)
*"Notes" (poetry, 1974)
*"Poems old and new" (poetry, 1979)
*"Places and Moments" (poetry, 1981)
*"The Fountains" (poetry, 1984)
*"Macedonian Textbooks of 19th Century-linguistic, literary, historical texts" (1986)
*"Images and themes" (essays, 1987)
*"The Epistle" (poetry, 1987)
*"The Tikves anthology" (study, 1987)
*"Meeting in Heaven" (poetry, 1988)
*"The Church" (poetry 1988)
*"A diary after many years" (prose, 1988)
*"Golden peak" (poetry, 1989)
*"Poetry (Konstantin Miladinov), the way Blaze Koneski reads it" (1989)
*"Seizmograph" (poetry, 1989)
*"Macedonian locations and topics" (essays, 1991)
*"The Heavenly River" (poems and translations, 1991)
*"The world of the Legend and the Song" (essays, 1993)
*"The Black Ram" (poetry, 1993)

Footnotes