THE LIFE AND WORK OF THE DONOR ATANAS BLIZNAKOV IN THE MONOGRAPHS BY SLAVE KATIN
The monograph “Atanas Bliznakov”, by Slave Nikolovski-Katin, published by the Rectorate of the University of “Saints Cyril and Methodius”, Skopje, 2017, 320, (in Macedonian and English) is dedicated to the largest donor in the Macedonian diaspora, Atanas Bliznakov, born in the village of D’mbeni, Kostur, Aegean Macedonia and living in Gary, Indiana, in the United States of America.
The monograph attempts to shed light on his life path, with special emphasis on his donor activity. The work is composed of five parts, each of which has several chapters, representing a chronological and thematic complete whole, although they are basically mutually complementary and complementary.
Slave Nikolovski-Katin is a life member of the board od directors of the Foundation “Atanas Bliznakoff”. He is known to the Macedonian and international cultural and scientific public due to his many publicist and scientific works related mainly to the life of Macedonians all over the world, but also to many other aspects related to the diaspora, as well as literature, culture, religion, science…
He was born on August 19, 1941 in Prespa. He got his primary education in Ljubojno, finished the secondary technical school, geodetic course, in Skopje where he also studied at the Faculty of Philology, Department of English Language and Literature. In addition, he was also enrolled at the Higher Geodetic School in Belgrade.
As a student he went to Canada for four years. In Toronto, he attended the Cambridge International Institute for English Language and Literature “Ryerson”. For some time, he worked as a surveyor and was active in the Macedonian community in Toronto. He was secretary general of the church administration of the Macedonian Orthodox Church ‘St. Clement’ in Toronto for one term, in 1978.
After graduation from the Faculty of Philology, he worked as a coordinator and professional translator at the Hydro-biological Institute in Ohrid during the investigation of Lake Ohrid in compliance with the Agreement between the Institute and the Smithsonian Foundation in Washington, U.S.A. During his employment at the Institute, he translated many scientific works and other books, from Macedonian to English and vice versa, including a doctoral dissertation and many scientific papers that were printed in the editions of the Office, but also in other proceedings and scientific journals in the country and abroad.
From 1979 to 1984 he was employed at the Matica (Beehive of Macedonian Expatriates), where he headed the Information Service, and worked as a translator and journalist at the magazine ‘Macedonia’. From 1984 to 1990 he worked at the Republic Conference of the Socialist Alliance of Working People of Macedonia where he edited the Informative Review of the activities of RK SSRNM and other publications of a different character. After that, he was appointed, by the Presidency of the RK SSRNM, as head of the Information Office, as secretary of the Commission of RK SSRNM for Inter-Ethnic Relations, and as secretary of the SSRNM Board responsible for issues of religion and religious communities. In April 1991 he was appointed, by the first Parliament of the Republic of Macedonia, as vice-chairman of the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities of the Republic of Macedonia.
Throughout his work and creative activities, he published a many publications, lexicographic editions, translations from Macedonian to English and vice versa, scientific papers, newspaper articles, etc.
Within the scope of his creative writing, particular attention should be attached to the following books: Macedonian Holocaust, Macedonian Ascension, Emigrant’s Yearning, In Australia as home, Macedonian Immigrant Press, In honor of St. Cyril, Poetic Emigration Meridians, Macedonian Emigration Panopticum, Emigrant Horizons, and others. Then, he is the author of lexicographic publications: English-Macedonian Limnological Lexicon, Bible Dictionary, Dictionary in Images (in six languages), and many other bibliographic works. He has translated the following books: the monograph ‘Alexander of Macedon’ (from English to Macedonian); Foreigners about Macedonia and Macedonians’, Monograph on the village of Nevoljani-Lerin region (from Macedonian into English), and others.
In addition, he is an author of more than eight hundred publications and other texts of science, serials, descriptive reports, reviews, and portraits, translations of literature, linguistics and culture in English and in Macedonian, as well as other texts and materials published in the country and abroad.
Slave Nikolovski-Katin was an accredited journalist from Macedonia for the ”Australian-Macedonian Weekly” from Melbourne for three years. Most of his works refer to and are connected with the activities and the life of the Macedonian Orthodox parishes in Australia, Canada, U.S. and Europe, as well as with the Macedonian expatriates overseas and in European countries, while around 50 translations from Macedonian to English published under the Heading of the journal “Macedonia” titled “From month to month” refer to the cultural and social life in the Republic of Macedonia.
He has participated in 60 symposia, debates, conferences and other sessions in the country and abroad where he presented papers mainly relating to culture, literature, language and religion, and the information and other activities of the Macedonian emigrants overseas and in the West European countries.
As an active journalist, he was elected as secretary of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, for a period of five years. Then, he was a member of the Presidency and the Commission for International Cooperation of this Association. He was also a member of the Council of the Centre for Foreign Languages in Skopje, the publishing board of “International Politics” from Belgrade, and a member of the Association of Literary Translators of Macedonia. He was vice president for two terms, and is now a member of the Society for Literature and Culture “Macedonia-Canada”; he is an honorary member of the Association for the use of the Macedonian language in official and public communication; a vice president and lifelong member of the Board of the Foundation “Atanas Bliznakoff” at the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University. He is a member of the International Academy for Freedom of Religion in Washington, U.S.A.
He won much recognition and awards, including the award “Krste Misirkov” from the Association of Journalists of Macedonia in the field of journalism.
The President of the Council of the Foundation “Atanas Stamatoff” is the Rector of the University, while Slave Nikolovski-Katin is the vice president.
The Council of the Foundation “Atanas Bliznakoff” at its scheduled meeting held on 18 November 1999 adopted a decision for publishing a monograph for Atanas Bliznakov, in Macedonian and English, to be published by the Rector’s Office of the University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”.
The Council of the Foundation was managed ex officio by its general secretary Trajan Bendevski, since the establishment of the Foundation in 1980, and by Duško Sekovski, also general secretary, as of 1981 until today.
To be continued
By SLAVE KATIN
