MACEDONIAN  REVIEW
volume XIV, 1991, ¹ 2

Scientific Session

ACADEMIC LYUBOMIR MILETICH - SCIENTIFIC AND PUBLIC ACTIVITY
(On the occasion of the restoration of the Macedonian Scientific Institute in Sofia)
Sofia, Dec 21 1990


The session was one of the first undertakings of the Macedonian Scientific Institute after its restoration. At its opening the chairman of the Institute, Professor Doctor Peter Shapkarev, pointed out that its dedication to the scientific and public activity of Academic Lyubomir Miletich was not accidental. This great scholar and Bulgarian was most closely associated with the establishment of the Macedonian Scientific Institute and with its consolidation and was an important link in the national liberation movement of the Bulgarians in Macedonia. He was a tireless organiser of fruitful work at the Institute, he edited its publicationsand was the inspired author of valuable and learned studies. The reports delivered at the session threw light on various aspects of the scholar's life and multi-faceted activities. His achievements are of lasting importance and are particularly valuable at present when the work of the restored Institute is to be organised in the contemporary social conditions and forms of defending the truth about Macedonia, when it is necessary to expose the falsifications about its nationality and culture, when the Bulgarian population in Macedonia is subjected to cruel genocide and when its historical past and the character of its national liberation struggles are distorted.

Professor Stoyan Petrov made a succinct characterization of Miletich as a distinguished scholar, ardent patriot and defender of the Bulgarian spirit. Prof. Petrov followed up the Academic's scientific and public work, outlining important moments in his life and the qualities which made him a remarkable scholar who devoted all his forces to serving his enslaved motherland.

In his report “Lyubomir Miletich and the Problems of Bulgarian Linguistics”, Senior Research Associate Ivan Kotchev PhD emphasised the great scholar's contributions to solving various linguistic problems. The linguistic work of this remarkable savant covered the following fields: Old Bulgarian, history of the Bulgarian language, Bulgarian diafects, contemporary Bulgarian language, etc. The question of the emergence and development and the specific features of the definite article in the Bulgarian language was a problem that took a central place in his work. His research on problems in the history of the Bulgarian language was the natural continuation of his interest in Old Bulgarian. In this field again his studies referred to a great variety of levels, such as phonetics, morphology and syntax. Miletich's interest in Bulgarian dialectology, i.e. in language science, expressed his vibrant response to our national life and was not a passing phenomenon. His attention focused on the South-western Bulgarian dialects as ealy as 1896 when his review of V. Oblak's “Macedonian Studies” was published. Of particular significance was Miletich's summing-up article “The Unity of the Bulgarian Language and Its Dialects” in which he considered the most typical features of our language which united its dialects in Moesia, Thrace and Macedonia into an indissoluble whole. The Bulgarian literary language, on account of its insufficient fixedness, also attracted the attention of Miletich, especially in his earlier studies. His creative vitality was inspired by his honest and dedicated service to science. It is precisely the truth about the Bulgarian language, revealed without ulterior motives by the methods of unbiased science, that has ensured his lasting presence in Bulgarian Slavic studies and his scientific longevity.

In the report “Lyubomir Miletich and the Macedonian Review”, Kosta Tsurnoushanov gave his impressions of the scholar's attitude towards organizing and editing the “Macedonian Review” and his important role in turning this journal into a solid, scientific centre which successfully helped the national liberaton


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movement of the Macedonian Bulgarians. Miletich was the editor of the journal without interruption from the third number of its first year, 1925, to his death on June 1, 1937. Naturally, “Macedonian Review” bore the spirit of its editor to the highest degree. This was particularly noticeable from his studies and articles, 32 in all, and his 136 reviews and notices published in the journal. This means that in the 10 volumes, comprising 42 issues that he edited, he published 166 articles (an average of 4.2 titles per issue!). All these works were written objectively, with scientific arguments and in the calm tone that befits an unprejudiced scholar. He displayed the same equilibrium in his reviews, especially on the unscientific writings of Serbian and other foreign scholars. Miletich closely followed up the contributions to science in the publications of many Bulgarian and foreign scientists revealing and defending the truth about the Macedonian Bulgarians. To this should be added the reading and editing of the ten volumes of the “Macedonian Review” with its 42 issues of 10 to 12 printers sheets each, including summaries in French. 272 articles and 350 reviews (including his own) passed under Miletich's sharp and scrupulous eye.

Associate Professor Stoyan Germanov's report, “The Foreign Literature on Macedonia in Lyubomir Miletich's Reviews” considered the particularly valuable and competent evaluations of this eminent scholar on the writings of foreign authors concerning the Macedonian question. Miletich published, in the “Macedonian Review'' as well as in other Bulgarian periodicals, 76 reviews of works in all European languages, making a total of 14,000 pages. The foreign literature reviews by Miletich covered different genres, such as learned monographs, studies, articles, memoirs, reference books and a novel dedicated to the national liberation struggles in Macedonia. The report indicated numerous cases where Miletich argued with various authors, refuting incorrect or unproven theses which these authors supported. In reviewing foreign literature concerning Macedonia, Miletich showed good faith and precision in his approach. He sought the authors' scientific ideas and views everywhere and tried to discover the true motives of one or other conceptions. He never broke the scholarly tone, he used scientific arguments and did not replace them with political qualifications. In a worthy fashion he defended the history and culture of the Bulgarian people, particularly the part that remained in enslaved Macedonia.

In his report “Lyubomir Miletich during the First World War” Prof. Peter Petrov surveyed. Miletich's participation in two scientific expeditions: in Macedonia in 1916 and in Dobrodja in 1917. The results of the expedition in Macedonia were set forth in a special scientific report. Besides that, numerous materials and photographs connected with the Macedonian Bulgarians' way of life and culture were collected, of which Miletich made extensive use in his further publications. Three basic questions were considered in the Miletich's report. The first referred to the study of the populated localities he visited from Tetovo and Ohrid to Scopie and Veles. The second concerned the attitude of the people of those areas to the Bulgarian national idea, Serbian propaganda in Macedonia and other observations on the life of the population there. The third question referred to the position of the Albanians and the Albanian question in the territory of Western Macedonia. Miletich communicated the results of the scientific expedition in Dobroudja in his study “Bulgarians and Romanians in Their Cultural and Historical Relations”, included in the collection “Dobroudja” in 1918.

The importance of Miletich for the development of Slavistics in Bulgaria was examined by Corresponding Member Ivan Douridanov in his report. Douridanov gave his evaluations of the impact of Miletich's creative and teaching activity on our young researchers in the field of Slavistics and in the study of the Bulgarian language, Bulgarian dialectology and Slavistics as a science. A number of Slavicists and linguists drew ideas from Miletich's works in the study of complex problems in the history of the Bulgarian language, One of these problems was the disappearance of the infinitive, a characteristic fecture of the Bulgarian language


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in comparison with the other Slavonic languages. Miletich dedicated several publications to this problem. Another problem was that of the disintegration of the declensional system in the contemporary Bulgarian language. Miletich's merits in the development of Slavistics in Bulgaria were not exhausted by the fields of research indicated. From his all-round activity of indefatigable student of the history of the Bulgarian language and Bulgarian dialectology and as teacher of several generations of Slavicists in the course of nearly half a century, he won a prominent place for himself in the pantheon of Bulgarian science.

In his report on “The Macedonian Scientific Institute. Emergence and Main Directions of Future Activity” Prof. Dr. Peter Shapkarev followed up the activity of the Institute from its formation in 1923 to its demise in 1947. By its activity the Institute became a solid scientific and cultural centre which engaged in remarkable scholarly work that won general recognition in this country and abroad. The “Macedonian Review” quaterly which it published was one of the most prestigious and important journals in Bulgaria and abroad and was published for 13 years. Publisched during that same period, were 15 volumes of valuable works by Bulgarian and foreign authors in different languages connected with the Macedonian question. Two parallel series were also published: “Materials on the History of the Macedonian Liberation Movement” (11 volumes) and “Macedonian Library” (18 volumes). On May 3, 1990 the Macedonian Scientific Institute was restored and in June of that dear it was registered with the Sofia City Court. The more important goals of the restored Institute, defined in the Statute that was approved by the Constituent Asembly, are as follows:

1) To work for the spiritual unity of all Bulgarians; 2) to inform public opinion in this country and abroad about the forced denationalization of the Bulgarian population in Macedonia; 3) to expose the falsification of our historical past and the enlightening activity of this population.

The scientific activity of the Institute is conducted in several directions, organizationally differentiated into creative sections: history, philology, ethnography, law and diplomacy. Research is published in the periodical press of the Institute or in separate monographs. Publication of the “Macedonian Review” quarterly was resumed. Separate books connected with the tasks of the Institute are being prepared for publication. The funds ensuring the activity of the Institute are collected from subscriptions, donations, from the publications of the Institute and from other financial sources.
 

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