Secret Macedonian Committee

Temko Popov, one of the leaders of the society

The Secret Macedonian Committee (Macedonian: Таен македонски комитет, romanized: Taen makedonski komitet; Serbian: Тајни македонски комитет, Tajni makedonski komitet; SMC) was a secret organization established in 1885 or 1886 by Macedonian Slavs in Sofia, Bulgaria. It promoted а Slavic Macedonian identity, distinguished especially from the ethnic identity of the Bulgarians, the re-establishment of the Archbishopric of Ohrid as a separate entity from the Bulgarian Exarchate, the promotion of the Macedonian language, etc.[1][2] Its leaders were Naum Evro(vić), Kosta Grupče(vić), Vasil Karajovev and Temko Popov(ić).[3]

History

The organization was established in 1885 or 1886 by Macedonian Slavs in Sofia, Bulgaria,[4][5] operating illegally.[1] It was anti-Bulgarian and its establishment marked the beginning of the pro-Serbian activities by its activists.[6] According to the Bulgarian police, it had around 20 young people who promoted the idea of Macedonian separatism, especially that Macedonians were distinct from Bulgarians.[4] Its leaders went to Belgrade in 1886, where they had negotiations with the Government of Serbia on collecting funds for the restoration of the Archbishopric of Ohrid and opening church-school communities, publishing a magazine Macedonian Voice in Macedonian in Constantinople (which would be against Bulgarian influence and pro-Ottoman),[5] opening schools throughout Ottoman Macedonia and hiring teachers that would teach Macedonian, printing books in Macedonian, etc.[4][7][8] These activists were educated in Serbia or at least under Serbian influence.[5] In accordance with the Serbo-Macedonian cooperation in the same year in Constantinople, the Association of Serbo-Macedonians was founded. This compromise with the Serbian interests in Macedonia later led to abandonment of its separatist program altogether.[9] The Bulgarian police discovered and disbanded SMC. Most of its members left Bulgaria and some went to Serbia.[4] Those who went to Belgrade supported the Serbian policy.[10] The Macedonian historiography has perceived the beginning of Macedonian separatism with SMC's activity.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Slavko Dimevski (1980). Za razvojot na makedonskata nacionalna misla do sozdavanjeto na TMORO (in Macedonian). Kultura. p. 242.
  2. ↑ Коста Църнушанов (1992). Македонизмът и съпротивата на Македония срещу него (in Bulgarian). Sofia: Университетско издателство "Св. Климент Охридски". pp. 30–31. Филологическа част: да се пише на чисто македонски език, но тъй като македонският език книжовно не е усъвършенствуван, да се изхвърли всеки български израз и да се въвежда сръбски. Да се вземе сръбската азбука като най-удобна за македонския език и при писането да се придържа към сръбската граматика. [Philological part: to write in pure Macedonian, but since the Macedonian language is not literary perfected, to discard every Bulgarian expression and to introduce Serbian. To take the Serbian alphabet as the most convenient for the Macedonian language and to adhere to Serbian grammar when writing.]
  3. ↑ Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije (in Serbian). Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika Socijalističke Republike Srbije. p. 175. Retrieved 23 May 2013. ...коју су предводили Наум Евров, Коста Групчев, Василиј Карајовев и Темко Попов [...which was led by Naum Evrov, Kosta Grupchev, Vasiliy Karajovev and Temko Popov]
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Andreas Stynen; Krisztina Lajosi, eds. (2020). The Matica and Beyond: Cultural Associations and Nationalism in Europe. Brill. pp. 142–143, 150. ISBN 9789004425385.
  5. 1 2 3 Roumen Daskalov; Tchavdar Marinov, eds. (2013). Entangled Histories of the Balkans - Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies. Brill. pp. 317–318. ISBN 9789004250765.
  6. ↑ Klara Volarić (2014). "Between the Ottoman and Serbian States: Carigradski Glasnik, an Istanbul-based Paper of Ottoman Serbs, 1895–1909". Hungarian Historical Review (3): 579.
  7. ↑ Victor Roudometof (2000). The Macedonian Question: Cultural, Historiography, Politics. East European Monographs. p. 185. ISBN 0880334517. In 1886 four members of the Secret Macedonian Committee (founded that year in Sofia) — Temko Popov, Naum Evro, Kosta Grupce and Vasil Karajovov — conducted talks with the Serbian government in Belgrade.
  8. ↑ Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije (in Serbian). Zavod za izdavanje udžbenika Socijalističke Republike Srbije. p. 175. Retrieved 23 May 2013. Прва оваква сарадња између српске владе и једне групе представника македонског покрета остварена је 1886. године. [The first such cooperation between the Serbian government and a group of representatives of the Macedonian movement was achieved in 1886.]
  9. ↑ Klaus J. Mattheier, ed. (1991). Sociolinguistica, Volumes 5–6. M. Niemeyer. p. 131. ISBN 3484603682.
  10. ↑ Denis Š. Ljuljanović (2023). Imagining Macedonia in the Age of Empire: State Policies, Networks and Violence (1878-1912). Lit Verlag. p. 189. ISBN 9783643914460.
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