Sunday, January 28, 2007

Presentation of Krste Misirkov's Diary in Bulgaria

A presentation of the recently uncovered Diary of Krste Petkov Misirkov was held in Sofia today - a week after the presentation in Skopje - which was attended by the heads of the Bulgarian and Macedonian State Archives.

The diary is in the form of manuscript authored by the founder of the Macedonian national history, literary language and orthography, Krste Petkov Misirkov. It was uncovered by a Bulgarian expert on Balkan's history in late 2006.

Last week, the diary was presented in Skopje, when the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia and the Archives Administration with the Ministerial Council of the Republic of Bulgaria agreed to issue a single edition of the diary in both languages.

Zoran Todorovski, the director of the Macedonian State Archive, said today in Sofia that the diary was first presented in Skopje because Misirkov is one of the most prominent figures in the Macedonian history.

"Misirkov is the founder of the Macedonian literary language and of the Macedonian national idea", Todorovski said.

When asked by the Bgnes agency's journalists whether he felt uneasy because of meddling of politicians in the discovery, Todorovski said "it is normal for the politicians to get their hands onto historiography", adding that Archives consider the science to be autonomous therefore they would act accordingly.

"We will do our work and let the politicians do theirs", Todorovski stated.

"The cooperation between the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia and the Archives Administration with the Ministerial Council of the Republic of Bulgaria has been executed with no external influences whatsoever", confirmed Borjana Buzhashka, the Head of the Archives Administration with the Ministerial Council of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The manuscript, including 381 pages written in Russian language, is dating from 1913. Misirkov wrote it in Odessa's nearby town of Klimentovo, where he lived and worked at the time. It contains also articles and excerpts from the Russian press of that time.

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