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Lazar Koliševski (Лазар Колишевски) (1914–2002) was a Communist political leader in Socialist Republic of Macedonia closely allied with Tito.
Early years
Lazar was born in Sveti Nikole in 1914. His family were poor Bulgarian farmers whose last name was Kolisev. At a young age Lazar began to follow politics and learn the ways of Communism. He also was much different from the rest of his family when it came to being pro-Bulgarian. He supported a Macedonia under Yugoslavia, but not under the Serbian kingdom. To show his anti-Bulgarian side he changed his last name to Koliševski.
Career
World War II
As Nazi forces entered Belgrade in April of 1941, Bulgaria, the German ally in the war, took control of Macedonia, with the western towns of Tetovo, Gostivar and Debar going to Albania. 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, Metodija Satorov Sarlo (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.
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, Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo, 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 August 2, 1944 at Prohor Pcinski Monastery 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 April 16, 1945. For his efforts in the war, Koliševski was one of the many Macedonians whom were awarded the People's Hero of Yugoslavia medal.
Macedonia & 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.
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.
After the Yugoslav Constitution of 1974 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 (Brezhnev of the Soviet Union 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 Yugoslavia
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 VMRO-DPMNE, 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
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 Macedonian-Albanian War of 2001, 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
External links
- Picture – From left to right, Lazar Koliševski (in Glasses), Josip Broz Tito, Milka Planinc and General Kosta Nadj
- Picture – 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
- Letter by Koliševski on the Macedonian Partisan forces in Pirin Macedonia
