Honoring Blazhe Koneski means honoring the code of our country and nation, the code of our being and our identity. Today, it’s not enough to just honor the work of Blazhe Koneski, but it’s necessary to respect his scholarly contribution to the continuity of the Macedonian language, culture and national history, told Monday’s formal gathering at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (MANU) on the birth centenary of Macedonian poet, author, translator and linguist, Blazhe Koneski.
Participants at the gathering pointed out that they should be a sovereign and inalienable integral part of the Macedonian national interest, and the national interest is a state interest, adding that whoever appreciates Koneski should appreciate the benefits of his huge work, which completes a self-conscious centuries-old cultural, linguistic and national thread, as there is no other choice. Nikola Jankulovski, rector of the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, stressed that no other university in the world, had a lecturer, professor and rector in the past decades who made such a contribution to national scholarship, the culture and art, as Koneski had. “Without Koneski, our university wouldn’t have had such history and strong foundations. And not just the university, but this also applies to all institutions and organizations which carry Koneski’s shadow in their foundations, including MANU and the Macedonian Writers’ Association,” Jankulovski said.
As regards the university, Jankulovski said, Koneski is part of the historical identity card to the world, and on the other hand he is the proponent, who set the dimensions of a professor and scholar, which everyone in the university team should strive to achieve. According to Jankulovski, if everyone would follow the example of Koneski as a scholar and professor, the achievements of the entire society would be much higher. “It cannot be disputed that we owe Koneski many more tributes, readings and interpretations. We are all indebted to Koneski,” said Jankulovski.
MANU member Marjan Markovikj read a message from academician Katica Kjulavkova, Secretary of the Linguistics Department at MANU and head of the project “Critical edition of the entire works by Blazhe Koneski”, who was unable to attend the event. In her message, Kjulavkova points out that Blazhe Koneski has set the norms of the Macedonian contemporary language code at a top scholarly level, equally following the history of the language and its modern use and structure. “With his work, Blazhe Koneski conveys the message that language has a strategic interest for the survival of a nation, for the establishment of a nation and a state. He believes that the Macedonian language is Macedonian national interest, not national interest of the neighbors,” says Kjulavkova’s message. Therefore, according to Kjulavkova, it is the duty of the Macedonian people, and the Macedonian state institutions, to oppose the propaganda denying the existence and identity of the Macedonian language. She underlines that if the linguistic, cultural and historical heritage of the Macedonian people is abandoned, then the sovereignty of the Macedonian state will be abandoned, its foundations will be undermined, and the consequences can be tragic and irreversible.
MANU President Ljupcho Kocarev highlighted the “continuity of our spiritual endurance and our condition in the period from the school of Clement of Ohrid to the school of Blazhe Koneski, which are an inseparable part of our being.”
Academicians Zuzana Topolinjska and Vlada Uroshevikj also paid tribute to Blazhe Koneski at the formal academy. In addition, the artistic and scholarly work of Blazhe Koneski was presented in the context of the critical edition of his entire works. The edition includes 12 volumes of the entire works by Blazhe Koneski, which were presented by professors Venko Andonovski, Natasha Avramovska, Ivan Dzheparoski, Anastasija Gjurchinova, Krasimira Ilievska, Marjan Markovikj, Veselinka Labroska, Ljudmil Spasov, Liljana Makarijoska and Stanislava-Stasha Tofoska. The formal gathering also promoted the web page where the digital edition of the entire works of Blazhe Koneski is available, which was developed by MANU’s Research Center for Real Linguistics.
Source: MIA
