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{{Infobox President
'''Lazar Koliševski''' (''Лазар Колишевски'') (]–]) was a Communist political leader in ] closely allied with ].
| name = Lazar Koliševski
| native_name = {{Nobold|{{Lang|mk|Лазар Колишевски}}}}
| image = Lazar Koliševski, foto.jpg
| caption =
| office = 1st ]
| primeminister = ]
| term_start = 4 May 1980
| term_end = 15 May 1980
| predecessor = ]
| successor = ]
| office2 = 6th ]
| primeminister2 = ]<br />Aleksandar Grlickov
| term_start2 = 19 December 1953
| term_end2 = 26 June 1962
| predecessor2 = Dimce Stojanov
| successor2 = Ljupčo Arsov
| office3 = 1st ]
| president3 = ]<br />]
| term_start3 = 16 April 1945
| term_end3 = 19 December 1953
| predecessor3 = ''Office established''
| successor3 = ]
| office4 = 1st ]
| term_start4 = 1945
| term_end4 = July 1963
| predecessor4 = ''Office established''
| successor4 = ]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|02|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = ], ]
| nationality = Yugoslav/Macedonian
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|07|06|1914|02|12|df=yes}}
| death_place = ], ]
| party = ]
| awards = ]
| allegiance = ]
| branch = ] (KoV)
| serviceyears = 1941–1980
| rank = ]
| commands = ]<br />]
| battles = ]
}}
'''Lazar Koliševski''' ({{langx|mk|Лазар Колишевски}} {{IPA-mk|ˈlazar kɔˈliʃɛfski||Mk-Lazar_Kolishevski.ogg}}; 12 February 1914 – 6 July 2000) was a ] ] ] political leader in the ] and briefly in the ]. He was closely allied with ].


==Early years== ==Early years==
Koliševski was born in ], ] in 1914 into a poor agrarian family. Little is known about his parents and their origins are obscure. Several sources report that Koliševski's mother was an ].<ref>''Во врска со оваа енигма разговаравме со двајцата најекспонирани репрезенти на влашкиот етнос во Македонија, претседателот на Унијата на Власите Димо Димчев и шефот на Партијата на Власите Митко Костов-Папули. Го замоливме Димо Димчев да ни каже кој, освен Милтон Манаки и Хари Костов, бил Влав во досегашните влади, но и во другите јавни области, како што се науката, уметноста, лингвистиката, историјата, правото, итн. Димчев наредува: "Пиши! Како прв, Лазар Колишевски бил Влав по мајка. Откако останал сирак, го зеле тетките по мајчина страна – битолски Влаинки – го вдомиле во кралското сиропиталиште, а потоа го пратиле на училиште во Србија.'' For more see: Власи и власти.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Bechev |first=Dimitar |url= |title=Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia |date=2019-09-03 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-1962-4 |pages=167 |language=en}}</ref> According to Kosta Tsarnushanov, a ] member, his father was a '']''.<ref>Коста Църнушанов (1992) Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него. Университетско изд-во "Св. Климент Охридски", стр. 227. </ref> Koliševski's personal Bulgarian prison card in 1941 lists both of his parents as ].<ref>According to Kolishevski's personal card, filled by him in the Skopje prison, both of his parents and he himself are listed as Bulgarians. For more see: Билярски, Ц. Малко известни факти от живота на Лазар Колишевски – сп. "Известия на държавните архиви" – Държавна агенция Архиви, бр. 98, 2009, стр. 101–121.</ref>
Lazar was born in ] in ]. His family were poor farmers whose last name was Kolisev. At a young age Lazar began to follow politics and learn the ways of ]. He also was much different from the rest of his family when it came to being pro-Bulgarian. He supported a Macedonia under ], but not under the ]n kingdom. To show his anti-Bulgarian side he changed his last name to Koliševski.

In 1915, during the ], the ] was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria. His father was mobilized on the ],<ref>Църнушанов, Коста. Сърбизиране на македонския казионен „литературен език“. Част втора. Македонски преглед XIV (2). 1991, стр. 21.</ref> and during the war, both of Koliševski's parents died. Once left an orphan, after the war, when Vardar Macedonia was ceded to Serbia again, he was taken by his maternal aunts in ]. There he was raised up to school age and later was transferred to a state orphanage in the city, where completed his primary education. Later Koliševski was sent to a technical school in ]. Here, Lazar began to follow politics and learn about ]. Because of the political activities he was arrested and expelled from the munition factory where he worked. During the 1930s he became a prominent activist of the ].<ref>Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, {{ISBN|0810862956}}, </ref>

==World War II==
].]]
]


As ] forces entered ] in April 1941, ], a German ally, took control of a part of ], with the western towns of ], ] and ] going to Italian zone in ]. After the Bulgarians had taken control of the eastern part of the former Vardar Banovina, the leader of the local faction of ], ] had defected to the ]. The Bulgarian Communists avoided organizing mass armed uprising against the authorities, but the Yugoslav communists insisted on an armed revolt. Meanwhile, the ] convinced the ] and ] to decide that the Macedonian communists were to join the Yugoslav communists.
==Career==
===World War II===
As ] forces entered ] in April of 1941, ], the German ally in the war, took control of Macedonia, with the western towns of ], ] and ] going to ]. Lazar, now 27 joined up with the Macedonian Partisans to help liberate Macedonia from the ocupying forces. After the Bulgarians had taken control of the eastern part of Macedonia, the leader of the Macedonian Communist Party, ] ''(Metodiya Shatorov Sharlo,)'' had defected to the Bulgarian Communist Party. This event left Macedonian resistance against the Bulgarians weak. Macedonia soon became a field of competition between different Macedonian Partisan Warlords. Later in winter of 1941 Koliševski had become the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Macedonia.


In the fall of 1941, Koliševski thus became the Secretary of the ]. On the ground, he began to pursue Shatorov's sympathisers and organised several small armed detachments against the Bulgarian authorities and their local adherents. In late 1941, he was arrested and sentenced to death by a Bulgarian military court. He wrote two appeals for clemency to the Bulgarian tsar and to the defence minister.<ref>Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Author Chris Kostov, Publisher Peter Lang, 2010, {{ISBN|3034301960}}, p. 13.</ref> There he regrets the accomplishment, insisting on his Bulgarian origin.<ref></ref><ref>Цанко Серафимов, Енциклопедичен речник за Македония и македонските работи, 2004, Орбел, {{ISBN|9789544960704}}, стр. 149.</ref> These documents are stored in the Bulgarian military archive in ].<ref>They were re-discovered in 1984 and copies of them were provided to the Central Committee of the ], apparently with the aim of responding to the anti-Bulgarian campaigns carried out in Yugoslavia with the participation of Lazar Kolisevski, to show that this person had another biography, of which he is ashamed and disfigured. This documentation was forwarded with a letter from the First Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, Colonel General ], to the member of the Politburo and secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP, ]. For more: Билярски, Цочо. Малко известни факти от живота на Лазар Колишевски, Известия на държавните архиви. ISSN 0323-9780 (том 98, 2009, стр. 101–120).</ref> Later, after an intercession of the Defense Minister to the tsar, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and Koliševski was sent to a prison in ], Bulgaria.<ref> {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070810211456/http://217.16.70.245/?pBroj=1475&stID=14963&pR=5 |date=2007-08-10}}</ref> However, after the ], when these documents became widely known, Koliševski denied making any appeals for clemency or admission of guilt personally.<ref name="Kljakic">{{cite book |last=Kljakic |first= Dragan |year= 1994 |title= Времето на Колишевски |publisher= Matica Makedonska |page= 109|quote= "Дали потоа поднесовте молба за помилување? – го прашав / Не, не поднесов. Ако го напривев тоа, ќе значеше дека ја признавам вината."}}</ref> He claimed that his plea for mercy was written by his lawyer,<ref>His lawyer Stefan Stefanov was liquidated by the Yugoslav communists in 1946 as a ] chauvinist. For more see: Пелтеков, Александър Г. Революционни дейци от Македония и Одринско. Второ допълнено издание. София, Орбел, 2014. {{ISBN|9789544961022}}, с. 442.</ref> but in relation to the death sentence of the then Bulgarian military courts, existed only the opportunity to submit personally signed "appeal for clemency".<ref>.</ref> According to the Yugoslav politician Antun Kolendić, Koliševski vainly denied these facts, while he became familiar with these documents in 1946.<ref>Koliševski does not explain how he survived and why his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. According to Kolendić, he became familiar with all these documents signed by Koliševski in 1941, as early as in 1946 in Bulgaria. All of the partisans arrested together with Koliševski, who did not sign petitions for mercy, were shot down. For more see: Антун Колендиќ, Белите дамки на македонската историја. </ref> It is claimed that in 1943, he was elected in absentia as secretary of the Central Committee of the new ] and a delegate to the ]'s second session in 1943, and also to the ] convened in August 1944, but those claims are disputed.<ref></ref>
As Secretary of the Macedonian Communist Party, Lazar was able to unite the different Macedonian Partisan forces under one command. He became a very strong supporter of the Yugoslav Partisan Leader, Josip Broz Tito. Tito, happy to see the Macedonian Partisans working so well against the Bulgarian and other Fascist forces, had sent one of his top aides, ], to Macedonia to help the Macedonian partizans to organize the struggle against the enemy.


As the war moved on, Koliševski helped liberate over 80% of Macedonia by late 1944, helped form the Anti-fascist Council for the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM) and he played a major role in proclaiming the Peoples' Republic of Macedonia, under the framework of the People's Republic of Yugoslavia, on ], ] at ] in Southern Serbia. As the war began to come to a close, Koliševski had become the President of the Presidium of the People's Assembly. He had also became the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Macedonia on ], ]. For his efforts in the war, Koliševski was one of the many Macedonians whom were awarded the People's Hero of Yugoslavia medal. In September 1944, Koliševski was freed by the new Bulgarian pro-communist government, and soon became the ], a local division of the ]. Near the end of the war Koliševski became the ], a federal unit of the ] (DFY). It was essentially the highest office in the ]. For his efforts in the war, Koliševski was one of the many Macedonians who were awarded with the People's Hero of Yugoslavia medal.


===Macedonia & Yugoslavia=== ==Yugoslavia==
]
After the end of the Second World War, Koliševski became the most powerful person in Macedonia and one of the most powerful in all of Yugoslavia. In Macedonia he began massive economic and social reforms. It is easy to say that Koliševski had finally brought the Industrial Revolution to Macedonia. By 1955 the capital city of Skopje had become on of the fastest growing cities in Eastern Europe and had also become the third largest city in Yugoslavia. Because of Koliševski's reforms in Macedonia, the small republic that in 1945 was the poorest area of Yugoslavia was now one of the fastest growing. After the Second Five Year Economic Plan, Macedonia had grown economically the fastest of all the Yugoslav Republics.


After ], Koliševski became the most powerful person in ] and among the most powerful people in all of Yugoslavia. Under his leadership,<ref>Michael Palairet, Macedonia: A Voyage through History, Volume 2, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, {{ISBN|1443888494}}, p. 293.</ref> hundreds of people of ] descent were killed as collaborationists ].<ref>''Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia'' by Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009; {{ISBN|0810855658}}, p. 287.</ref> Thousands of others, who retained their pro-Bulgarian sympathies, suffered severe repression as a result.<ref>''Who Are the Macedonians?'' by Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000; {{ISBN|1850655340}}, p. 118.</ref> Kolisevski strongly supported the promotion of a distinct ] identity and language in ].<ref>Bernard A. Cook, Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 2001, {{ISBN|0815340575}}, p. 808.</ref> Some circles were then trying to minimise ties with Yugoslavia as far as possible and promoted the independence of Macedonia. Kolishevski, however, started a policy of fully implementing the pro-Yugoslav line and took harsh measures against the opposition. He also began massive economic and social reforms. Koliševski finally brought the ] to Macedonia. By 1955, the capital, Skopje, had become one of the fastest-growing cities in the region and became the third-largest city in Yugoslavia. Thanks to Koliševski's reforms, the small republic that in 1945 had been the poorest area of Yugoslavia became the fastest-growing economy. After the second Five-Year Economic Plan, PR Macedonia's economy advanced rapidly.
In the middle of the 1950s, Koliševski had moved away from the political offices in Macedonia. He was still the most powerful person in the Republic because of his high power in the Yugoslav Communist Party. With his slow removal from politics in Macedonia he began travelling to other nations as a Yugoslav Diplomat. He made many major trips in the late 1950s and early 1960s to nations like Egypt, India, Indonesia and other nations that would later help form the Non-Aligned Nations. These diplomatic travels showed that Koliševski was very trusted by the Yugoslav leader Tito. Even after Tito had fall outs with some of his most trusted allies, Koliševski still remained.


On 19 December 1953, Koliševski retired as the Prime Minister of PR Macedonia and assumed the office of ]. He became the PR Macedonian head of state, but wielded less direct political power. However, he remained the Chairman of the ], the Macedonian division of the ], which were the new names of the communist parties in Yugoslavia. He was still the most powerful person in the Republic because of his influence in the Yugoslav Communist Party. With his slow removal from politics in Macedonia, he began to travel to other nations as a Yugoslav diplomat. He made many major trips in the late 1950s and the early 1960s to Egypt, India, Indonesia and other nations that later formed the ]. The diplomatic travels showed that Koliševski was very trusted by the Yugoslav leader, ]. Even after Tito had fallen out with some of his most trusted allies, Koliševski remained in his position.
After the Yugoslav Constitution of ] was passed, Koliševski grew much higher in the Yugoslav Political World. The new constitution called for a rotating Yugoslav Vice-Presidency. Koliševski was picked from the Macedonian leadership to be the Macedonian representative to the Presidency. On May 15, 1979 Koliševski was voted by the other Presidency members to become President of the Presidency and Vice President of Yugoslavia. On New Years Day 1980 President Tito was taken to the hospital for an illness that would eventually take his life. During this time Koliševski became the leader of Yugoslavia, even though Tito was still President. On May 4, 1980 President Tito had died. Koliševski became the first President of Yugoslavia after Tito. He showed great leadership for his little time as President during Tito's funeral. Many people in the West and in Yugoslavia had believed now since Tito was dead that Yugoslavia would fall back into the Soviet Bloc, however Koliševski showed powerful leadership during the funeral, saying in front of over 100 international leaders (] of the ] being on of them) that Yugoslavs are "prepared to defend every foot of their soil." Koliševski left the office of President of Yugoslavia on May 15, 1980, just 11 days after officially taking power.
After the ] was passed, Koliševski became much more influential in the Yugoslav political world. The new constitution called for a rotating Yugoslav Vice-Presidency. Koliševski was chosen by the Macedonian leadership to be the Macedonian representative to the Presidency. On 15 May 1979, Koliševski was voted by the other presidency members to become President of the Presidency and Vice President of Yugoslavia. On New Year's Day in 1980, Tito fell ill, leaving Koliševski in the role of acting leader in his absence. Tito died five months later, on 4 May 1980. Koliševski held the office of acting head of the presidency of Yugoslavia for another ten days, when the office passed on to ].


==Republic of Macedonia==
==After Yugoslavia==
After the ], Koliševski lived in ], the capital of the newly-proclaimed ], and opposed the anti-Serbian and pro-Bulgarian policy of the ruling right-wing party, ], in the late 1990s.<ref>НИН, Београд, issue 2585, 13.07.2000, </ref> He died on 6 July 2000. Shortly after, his personal archive of 300,000 documents was given to the ].<ref>„Архивата на Лазо Колишевски до 300.000 страници во МАНУ е тајна дури и за лустраторите“, ''Дневник'', година XVIII, број 5596, понеделник, 20 октомври 2014, стр. 2–3.</ref> In 2002 a monument of Koliševski was erected in his birthplace by the left-wing local government.<ref>{{cite web | title=Споменикот го врати Колишевски во Св. Николе | url=https://time.mk/arhiva/?d1=01&m1=01&y1=1991&d2=31&m2=12&y2=2012&all=0&dnevnik=1&fulltext=2&timeup=2&show=1&q=%D1%81%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D1%82%20%D0%B3%D0%BE%20%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%20%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%88%D0%B5%D0%B2%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B8%20%D0%B2%D0%BE%20%D1%81%D0%B2%20%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B5&read=4133ca69895f8e5 | date=11 October 2002 }}</ref>
As Yugoslavia began to break apart in the early 1990s, Macedonia was able to gain independence in 1991. Koliševski had been retired from politics for about 7 years and was living in Skopje. The new Macedonian Nationalists Party, the ], had tried to take Koliševski and other leading Macedonian politicians in Yugoslavia to court for many different things from imprisoning pro-Stalinist Macedonians in the late 1940s and early 1950s to not trying to gain more power for the Macedonian Republic during the time of Yugoslavia. All these efforts by the VMRO failed and Koliševski was able to live in peace in Skopje till his death in the summer of 2000.


==Legacy== ==See also==
*]
To many Koliševski is seen as the most worse thing ever happened to Macedonia, and to some Koliševski is seen as one of the greatest Macedonians of all time.
*]
If you look at economic facts and the way of life during his time as Communist boss of Macedonia; it is hard not to argue that life was better and that he did great things for Macedonia. After the ] of ], many Macedonians became very nostalgic of the times of Koliševski, Tito and Yugoslavia. These feelings for the past had hit the other former Yugoslav republics much earlier and are to this day very strong. In the summer of 2005 a group of Macedonians had formed a new political party in Macedonia known as the Titoist Left Forces. The party is showing popularity with many people, but will most likely fail to the two bigger Macedonian political parties the VMRO and SDSM.
*]


== See also == ==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
* ]
* ]
* ]


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commonscat}}
* – From left to right, Lazar Koliševski (in Glasses), Josip Broz Tito, Milka Planinc and General Kosta Nadj
*, Лазар Колишевски.
* – Presidency of Yugoslav Communist Party at the 1978 congress. From left to Right: Vladimir Bakaric, Dzemal Bijedic, Edvard Kardelj, Josip Broz Tito, Lazar Koliševski, Stane Dolanc, Milka Planinc
* – From left to right, Lazar Koliševski (in Glasses), Josip Broz Tito, Milka Planinc, Azem Vllasi and General Kosta Nadj
*
*
* (in Bulgarian) Contains pictures of original documents signed by Koliševski, kept in Sofia.


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Yugoslav Political Leader

Lazar Koliševski
Лазар Колишевски
1st President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia
In office
4 May 1980 – 15 May 1980
Prime MinisterVeselin Đuranović
Preceded byJosip Broz Tito
Succeeded byCvijetin Mijatović
6th President of the People's Assembly of PR Macedonia
In office
19 December 1953 – 26 June 1962
Prime MinisterLjupčo Arsov
Aleksandar Grlickov
Preceded byDimce Stojanov
Succeeded byLjupčo Arsov
1st President of the Executive Council of PR Macedonia
In office
16 April 1945 – 19 December 1953
PresidentMetodija Andonov - Čento
Dimitar Vlahov
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byLjupčo Arsov
1st Secretary of the League of Communists of Macedonia
In office
1945 – July 1963
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byKrste Crvenkovski
Personal details
Born(1914-02-12)12 February 1914
Sveti Nikole, Kingdom of Serbia
Died6 July 2000(2000-07-06) (aged 86)
Skopje, Macedonia
NationalityYugoslav/Macedonian
Political partySKJ
AwardsOrder of the National Hero of Yugoslavia
Military service
AllegianceSFR Yugoslavia
Branch/serviceGround Forces (KoV)
Years of service1941–1980
RankMajor General
CommandsYugoslav Partisans
Yugoslav People's Army
Battles/warsWorld War II

Lazar Koliševski (Macedonian: Лазар Колишевски [ˈlazar kɔˈliʃɛfski] ; 12 February 1914 – 6 July 2000) was a Macedonian Yugoslav communist political leader in the Socialist Republic of Macedonia and briefly in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He was closely allied with Josip Broz Tito.

Early years

Koliševski was born in Sveti Nikole, Kingdom of Serbia in 1914 into a poor agrarian family. Little is known about his parents and their origins are obscure. Several sources report that Koliševski's mother was an Aromanian. According to Kosta Tsarnushanov, a MMTRO member, his father was a Serboman. Koliševski's personal Bulgarian prison card in 1941 lists both of his parents as Bulgarian.

In 1915, during the First World War, the region of Macedonia was occupied by the Kingdom of Bulgaria. His father was mobilized on the Macedonian front, and during the war, both of Koliševski's parents died. Once left an orphan, after the war, when Vardar Macedonia was ceded to Serbia again, he was taken by his maternal aunts in Bitola. There he was raised up to school age and later was transferred to a state orphanage in the city, where completed his primary education. Later Koliševski was sent to a technical school in Kragujevac. Here, Lazar began to follow politics and learn about communism. Because of the political activities he was arrested and expelled from the munition factory where he worked. During the 1930s he became a prominent activist of the Yugoslav Communist Party.

World War II

Koliševski in 1944 during World War II.
Memorial plaque from communist times, commemorating the sentencing of Koliševski and four others by the "Bulgarian Fascist Occupiers" in Ohrid

As Nazi forces entered Belgrade in April 1941, Bulgaria, a German ally, took control of a part of Vardar Macedonia, with the western towns of Tetovo, Gostivar and Debar going to Italian zone in Albania. After the Bulgarians had taken control of the eastern part of the former Vardar Banovina, the leader of the local faction of Communist Party of Yugoslavia, Metodi Shatorov had defected to the Bulgarian Communist Party. The Bulgarian Communists avoided organizing mass armed uprising against the authorities, but the Yugoslav communists insisted on an armed revolt. Meanwhile, the German invasion of the Soviet Union convinced the Comintern and Joseph Stalin to decide that the Macedonian communists were to join the Yugoslav communists.

In the fall of 1941, Koliševski thus became the Secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communists in Macedonia. On the ground, he began to pursue Shatorov's sympathisers and organised several small armed detachments against the Bulgarian authorities and their local adherents. In late 1941, he was arrested and sentenced to death by a Bulgarian military court. He wrote two appeals for clemency to the Bulgarian tsar and to the defence minister. There he regrets the accomplishment, insisting on his Bulgarian origin. These documents are stored in the Bulgarian military archive in Veliko Tarnovo. Later, after an intercession of the Defense Minister to the tsar, his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment, and Koliševski was sent to a prison in Pleven, Bulgaria. However, after the fall of communism, when these documents became widely known, Koliševski denied making any appeals for clemency or admission of guilt personally. He claimed that his plea for mercy was written by his lawyer, but in relation to the death sentence of the then Bulgarian military courts, existed only the opportunity to submit personally signed "appeal for clemency". According to the Yugoslav politician Antun Kolendić, Koliševski vainly denied these facts, while he became familiar with these documents in 1946. It is claimed that in 1943, he was elected in absentia as secretary of the Central Committee of the new Communist Party of Macedonia and a delegate to the AVNOJ's second session in 1943, and also to the ASNOM convened in August 1944, but those claims are disputed.

In September 1944, Koliševski was freed by the new Bulgarian pro-communist government, and soon became the Chairman of the Communist Party of Macedonia, a local division of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Near the end of the war Koliševski became the Prime Minister of the Federal State of Macedonia, a federal unit of the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (DFY). It was essentially the highest office in the Federal State of Macedonia. For his efforts in the war, Koliševski was one of the many Macedonians who were awarded with the People's Hero of Yugoslavia medal.

Yugoslavia

Koliševski in 1964.

After World War II, Koliševski became the most powerful person in PR Macedonia and among the most powerful people in all of Yugoslavia. Under his leadership, hundreds of people of Macedonian Bulgarian descent were killed as collaborationists between 7–9 January 1945. Thousands of others, who retained their pro-Bulgarian sympathies, suffered severe repression as a result. Kolisevski strongly supported the promotion of a distinct ethnic Macedonian identity and language in SR Macedonia. Some circles were then trying to minimise ties with Yugoslavia as far as possible and promoted the independence of Macedonia. Kolishevski, however, started a policy of fully implementing the pro-Yugoslav line and took harsh measures against the opposition. He also began massive economic and social reforms. Koliševski finally brought the Industrial Revolution to Macedonia. By 1955, the capital, Skopje, had become one of the fastest-growing cities in the region and became the third-largest city in Yugoslavia. Thanks to Koliševski's reforms, the small republic that in 1945 had been the poorest area of Yugoslavia became the fastest-growing economy. After the second Five-Year Economic Plan, PR Macedonia's economy advanced rapidly.

On 19 December 1953, Koliševski retired as the Prime Minister of PR Macedonia and assumed the office of President of the People's Assembly. He became the PR Macedonian head of state, but wielded less direct political power. However, he remained the Chairman of the League of Communists of Macedonia, the Macedonian division of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, which were the new names of the communist parties in Yugoslavia. He was still the most powerful person in the Republic because of his influence in the Yugoslav Communist Party. With his slow removal from politics in Macedonia, he began to travel to other nations as a Yugoslav diplomat. He made many major trips in the late 1950s and the early 1960s to Egypt, India, Indonesia and other nations that later formed the Non-Aligned Nations. The diplomatic travels showed that Koliševski was very trusted by the Yugoslav leader, Josip Broz Tito. Even after Tito had fallen out with some of his most trusted allies, Koliševski remained in his position. After the Yugoslav Constitution of 1974 was passed, Koliševski became much more influential in the Yugoslav political world. The new constitution called for a rotating Yugoslav Vice-Presidency. Koliševski was chosen by the Macedonian leadership to be the Macedonian representative to the Presidency. On 15 May 1979, Koliševski was voted by the other presidency members to become President of the Presidency and Vice President of Yugoslavia. On New Year's Day in 1980, Tito fell ill, leaving Koliševski in the role of acting leader in his absence. Tito died five months later, on 4 May 1980. Koliševski held the office of acting head of the presidency of Yugoslavia for another ten days, when the office passed on to Cvijetin Mijatović.

Republic of Macedonia

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, Koliševski lived in Skopje, the capital of the newly-proclaimed Republic of Macedonia, and opposed the anti-Serbian and pro-Bulgarian policy of the ruling right-wing party, VMRO-DPMNE, in the late 1990s. He died on 6 July 2000. Shortly after, his personal archive of 300,000 documents was given to the Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2002 a monument of Koliševski was erected in his birthplace by the left-wing local government.

See also

References

  1. Во врска со оваа енигма разговаравме со двајцата најекспонирани репрезенти на влашкиот етнос во Македонија, претседателот на Унијата на Власите Димо Димчев и шефот на Партијата на Власите Митко Костов-Папули. Го замоливме Димо Димчев да ни каже кој, освен Милтон Манаки и Хари Костов, бил Влав во досегашните влади, но и во другите јавни области, како што се науката, уметноста, лингвистиката, историјата, правото, итн. Димчев наредува: "Пиши! Како прв, Лазар Колишевски бил Влав по мајка. Откако останал сирак, го зеле тетките по мајчина страна – битолски Влаинки – го вдомиле во кралското сиропиталиште, а потоа го пратиле на училиште во Србија. For more see: Власи и власти.
  2. Bechev, Dimitar (3 September 2019). Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-5381-1962-4.
  3. Коста Църнушанов (1992) Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него. Университетско изд-во "Св. Климент Охридски", стр. 227.
  4. According to Kolishevski's personal card, filled by him in the Skopje prison, both of his parents and he himself are listed as Bulgarians. For more see: Билярски, Ц. Малко известни факти от живота на Лазар Колишевски – сп. "Известия на държавните архиви" – Държавна агенция Архиви, бр. 98, 2009, стр. 101–121.
  5. Църнушанов, Коста. Сърбизиране на македонския казионен „литературен език“. Част втора. Македонски преглед XIV (2). 1991, стр. 21.
  6. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN 0810862956, p. 117.
  7. Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900–1996, Author Chris Kostov, Publisher Peter Lang, 2010, ISBN 3034301960, p. 13.
  8. Молба за милостъ от Лазаръ Паневъ Колишевъ, затворникъ при Скопския областен сѫдъ, осѫденъ на СМЪРТЪ отъ Битолския военно-полеви сѫдъ по наказ. дѣло 133/941. по закона за защита на държавата
  9. Цанко Серафимов, Енциклопедичен речник за Македония и македонските работи, 2004, Орбел, ISBN 9789544960704, стр. 149.
  10. They were re-discovered in 1984 and copies of them were provided to the Central Committee of the BCP, apparently with the aim of responding to the anti-Bulgarian campaigns carried out in Yugoslavia with the participation of Lazar Kolisevski, to show that this person had another biography, of which he is ashamed and disfigured. This documentation was forwarded with a letter from the First Deputy Minister of National Defense and Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, Colonel General Atanas Semerdzhiev, to the member of the Politburo and secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP, Milko Balev. For more: Билярски, Цочо. Малко известни факти от живота на Лазар Колишевски, Известия на държавните архиви. ISSN 0323-9780 (том 98, 2009, стр. 101–120).
  11. УТРИНСКИ ВЕСНИК, Број 1475 понеделник, 16 октомври 2006. Archived 2007-08-10 at archive.today
  12. Kljakic, Dragan (1994). Времето на Колишевски. Matica Makedonska. p. 109. Дали потоа поднесовте молба за помилување? – го прашав / Не, не поднесов. Ако го напривев тоа, ќе значеше дека ја признавам вината.
  13. His lawyer Stefan Stefanov was liquidated by the Yugoslav communists in 1946 as a Greater Bulgarian chauvinist. For more see: Пелтеков, Александър Г. Революционни дейци от Македония и Одринско. Второ допълнено издание. София, Орбел, 2014. ISBN 9789544961022, с. 442.
  14. Нова зора, Брой 32 (2013) Отродителят – „Народний херой“, Евгений Еков.
  15. Koliševski does not explain how he survived and why his death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. According to Kolendić, he became familiar with all these documents signed by Koliševski in 1941, as early as in 1946 in Bulgaria. All of the partisans arrested together with Koliševski, who did not sign petitions for mercy, were shot down. For more see: Антун Колендиќ, Белите дамки на македонската историја. Марксистичка интернет архива.
  16. Колендиќ, Белите дамки на македонската историја. Извор/првпат објавено: "Start magazin", Zagreb, No. 537, 19.8.1989, 50–55 str. Превод: Здравко Савески, Онлајн верзија: декември 2011.
  17. Michael Palairet, Macedonia: A Voyage through History, Volume 2, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016, ISBN 1443888494, p. 293.
  18. Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia by Dimitar Bechev, Scarecrow Press, 2009; ISBN 0810855658, p. 287.
  19. Who Are the Macedonians? by Hugh Poulton, C. Hurst & Co. Publishers, 2000; ISBN 1850655340, p. 118.
  20. Bernard A. Cook, Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia, Taylor & Francis, 2001, ISBN 0815340575, p. 808.
  21. НИН, Београд, issue 2585, 13.07.2000, Krzavac, Savo. Bravar nije voleo zlato
  22. „Архивата на Лазо Колишевски до 300.000 страници во МАНУ е тајна дури и за лустраторите“, Дневник, година XVIII, број 5596, понеделник, 20 октомври 2014, стр. 2–3.
  23. "Споменикот го врати Колишевски во Св. Николе". 11 October 2002.

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Succession boxes
Political offices
Preceded byJosip Broz Tito
 President of the Presidency of SFR Yugoslavia
1980 		Succeeded byCvijetin Mijatović
Preceded byDimce Stojanov President of the People's Assembly of PR Macedonia
1953–1962 		Succeeded byLjupčo Arsov
Preceded byNew office President of the Executive Council of PR Macedonia
1945–1953 		Succeeded byLjupčo Arsov
Party political offices
Preceded byNew office Chairman of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Macedonia
1945–1963 		Succeeded byKrste Crvenkovski
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