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John Louis Nicholas Bitove Sr., CM (born Lazar Nikola Bitov, Macedonian: Лазар Никола Битов; 19 March 1928 – 30 July 2015) was a Macedonian Canadian businessman.

Biography

Early life

Bitove was born Lazar Nikola Bitov, in Toronto to Macedonian immigrants Nicholas and Vana. His parents immigrated to Canada after World War I in 1919 from Gabresh (today Gavros), a village located in the Kastoria region of Macedonia (Greece).

Business career

John Bitove Sr. developed, built, and operated various restaurants in Canada. With his wife Dotsa, he created the Java Shoppe in the north part of Toronto (formerly North York), that quickly expanded to 5 restaurants. Bitove brought new restaurant concepts to Toronto such as the Cav-a-bob nightclub, Julie's fine dining and many others. He later acquired the Canadian franchise rights to the Big Boy and Roy Rogers restaurant chains. He used "JB's of Canada" (or "JB's" inside a maple leaf) for the Big Boy Family Restaurants to distinguish it from the American franchise known as JB's. Bitove expanded to a combined 40 Big Boy and Roy Rogers Restaurants. In 1983, a company he created, (York County Quality Foods) was awarded the food and beverage catering contract at the Toronto Pearson International Airport. In 1987 he obtained the catering rights to Toronto's SkyDome (now Rogers Centre) and two years later merged these two companies to form the Bitove Corporation, then one of Canada's largest privately held food service companies.

In 1989 Bitove became a member of the Order of Canada. And in 2013 the Republic of Macedonia awarded him The Order of 8 September, for efforts on behalf of Macedonia, particularly the nation's independence; Macedonia was the homeland of his and his wife's parents.

Bitove was a director of several companies, including Oppenheimer & Co. He also organized, founded and was involved in, many charitable activities, most notably, with Dotsa, the founding of Canadian Macedonian Place, a home for the aged people of Macedonian descent as well as ProAction/Cops&Kids, a partnership with the Metropolitan Toronto Police to fund programs targeting high-risk youth in Toronto.

Various social, educational and medical causes bear the family's name, including the John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library at the University of Western Ontario Law School.

Political activity

In the early 1990s, John Bitove founded an International Macedonian Lobby to assist the newly proclaimed Republic of Macedonia on its efforts for international recognition. As a result, former advisors of two United States presidents and one Canadian prime minister were hired to lobby foreign governments, as well as the European Community and the United Nations, to recognise the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign and independent state. At the same time, Bitove formed the first World Macedonian Congress (see World Macedonian Congress for the rival organisation), an organisation modelled after the Jewish World Congress, to promote the interests of the Republic of Macedonia and the ethnic Macedonians throughout the world. John Bitove provided significant financial resources to the United Macedonian Diaspora. He also supported and promoted the United Macedonia, a concept among Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia into a single state with the Greek city of Thessaloniki as its capital.

Personal life

He was married to Dotsa and had five children – Vonna, Tom, Nick, John and Jordan. He died in Toronto in July 2015.

References

1. Bitove, John (28 September 2007). "Recognition for Macedonia". National Post. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
2. в-к "Македония", брой 24, 21 юни 1994 г.
3. Robertson, Grant (28 March 2008). "Meet John Bitove". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 6 May 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2011 – via Wayback Machine.
4. Cowan, Jane K. (2000). Macedonia: The Politics of Identity and Difference. London, UK: Pluto Press. p. 77. ISBN 0-7453-1589-5. John Bitov [sic] is a successful businessman now living in Toronto. Of Macedonian origin, he hails from the village of Gavros, Kastoria prefecture.
5. Bradburn, Jamie (14 January 2015). "Vintage Toronto Ads: Big Boy". The Torontoist. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
6. "John L.N. Bitove, C.M." The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
7. Ristovska, Liljana (16 November 2006). "Gala Raises $1.3 Million for Scholarships and Canadian Macedonian Palace". Canadian Macedonian News. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
8. "Our Story". ProAction Cops & Kids. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
9. "John and Dotsa Bitove Family Law Library". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
10. Danforth, Loring M., The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Princeton University Press, 1997, p. 101.
11. United Macedonian Diaspora’s Companions - A Distinction of Honor Archived 26 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine, umdiaspora.org
12. John Bitove Sr. interviewed on YouTube by Metodija Koloski, president of the United Macedonian Diaspora.
13. "Businessman John Bitove Sr. dies at age 87". Toronto Sun.

• Businesspeople from Toronto
• Canadian people of Macedonian descent
• Members of the Order of Canada
• 1928 births
• 2015 deaths
• Canadian food industry businesspeople
• Macedonian nationalists