Macedonian Patriotic Organization

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Macedonian Patriotic Organization
Founded1922
FounderAnastas Stephanoff (first president)
TypePolitical, Cultural
FocusContinue to work for human, civil and economic rights for all Macedonians of the world
Location
Area served
 United States
 Canada
Members
N/A
Key people
President of the Organization Andrea Andrioff Alusheff
Board of Directors, the Central Committee
Websitemacedonian.org
MPO list with Buneva`s picture appealing for free speaking of Bulgarian language in Yugoslav and Greek Macedonia.

Macedonian Patriotic Organization (MPO) is a political organization founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana in the United States in 1922 by immigrants from Greek Macedonia. It was originally called the Macedonian Political Organization but changed its name in 1952. From 1926 it has published the newspaper Macedonian Tribune. In the past it has promoted the idea of Macedonian Slavs being Bulgarians[1]. The modern MPO supports the independent Macedonian nation and country and is involved in pro-Macedonian advocacy within the US and Canada. [2]

History

The Macedonian Patriotic Organization of the United States and Canada ("MPO") is the oldest organization of Americans and Canadians of Macedonian descent in North America. Macedonian-American and Macedonian-Canadian immigrants, including several who fought against the Ottoman Empire during the Ilinden Uprising of 1903, established the MPO in 1922 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. From its inception, the MPO has advocated to organize and educate the emigrants in civil values, and to prepare them for fighting in favor of Macedonian liberation and establishment of “a state unit in order to guarantee constitutional, ethnic, religious, cultural and political rights and freedoms of all of its citizens.”[3] The founders of the MPO, in keeping with the dream of a united and independent Macedonia, adopted the slogan "Macedonia for the Macedonians", a proclamation of William Gladstone, who in 1897 expressed his views on the "Macedonian Question". The use of concepts of “Macedonians” and “Macedonian emigrants” in the first chart are equally valid for all ethnic groups in Macedonia – Bulgarians, Romanians, Turks, Albanians, Greeks etc.[4]

The different phases that the Macedonian Question went through have put a pressure upon MPO to develop and enrich its ways and means to achieve its aims. Firmly based upon the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization's (IMRO) rich experience and traditions, MPO has further developed into one of the most interesting and original national-liberation organizations.[5] During 1970s the MPO was against the regime in Belgrade and opposes the Communist regime in Sofia. The Macedonian Tribune as its organ printed appeals by the old leader of the IMRO, Ivan Mihailov. His memoirs (written in Bulgarian) were advertised by the paper and were avidly read.[6] Although the Macedonian Patriotic Organisation claimed that Macedonians are Bulgarians, its activity was centered on Macedonia. Little was said about Bulgaria. Most of the Americans born of Macedonian Bulgarian descent have hardly any knowledge of Bulgaria and increasingly identify themselves simply as Macedonians.[1] Since 1980s the purely Macedonian policies of the Macedonian Patriotic Organisation have increased indirectly the Macedonisation of older, Bulgarian-orientated immigrants and their descendants.[7] As a result over the last 15 years the Macedonian Patriotic Organization has changed its policy to pro-Macedonian.

Over the past 86 years of its existence the MPO has evolved and today acts as a non-profit corporation that aims for preservation of the customs, history, and traditions of Macedonian-Americans and Macedonian-Canadians, and engages in charity work in the United States, Canada, and the Republic of Macedonia. Members have been vocal on matters relating to the Republic of Macedonia and ethnic Macedonians, and also in celebrating the achievements of Macedonian-Americans and Macedonian-Canadians and their contributions to the United States, Canada, and the Republic of Macedonia. [8].

MPO "Luben Dimitroff" and the unauthorized Macedonian Tribune

In the last years a former chapter of MPO from Toronto called "Luben Dimitroff",[9] which rejects the contemporary policy of MPO, splintered from the Canadian MPO and started publishing a Macedonian Tribune in the pre-World War II Bulgarian orthography, espousing pro-Bulgarian views of Macedonia and the Macedonians. This publication has been dismissed as false and unauthorized by the Macedonian Patriotic Organization. The MPO Board of Directors stated that it "disavows any statements made in this electronic publication and condemns the statements and sentiments expressed therein. Furthermore, the MPO Board of Directors states that there is no such entity as "MPO Luben Dimitroff" and that any individuals claiming to constitute such organization are not members of the MPO notwithstanding any claims to the contrary." [10]

Chronology

1922 MPO founded, Fort Wayne

1925 Macedonian Press Bureau founded, New York City

1927 Macedonian Tribune first published on February 10, Indianapolis

1927 National MPO Ladies' Section founded

1940 Almanac Macedonia published 1946 National YMPO founded

1983 Macedonian Tribune moved to Fort Wayne

1986 Freedom Monument dedicated, Fort Wayne

1990 Indiana Historic Marker dedicated at site of first Macedonian Tribune office, Indianapolis

1994 MPO purchases Macedonian Tribune Building, Fort Wayne

1995 Macedonian Veterans Association founded

1995 Macedonian Professional Association founded

1995 Wreath Laid at Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery

1996 MPO establishes Homepage on the World Wide Web at www.macedonian.org

MPO local chapters

The Macedonian Patriotic Organization has local chapters in most large cities in the United States, Canada and Brazil, wherever there is a larger number of Macedonian immigrants. The current MPO chapters are:

  1. Chicago, Illinois, MPO "Independence"
  2. Cincinnati, Ohio, MPO "Bistritsa"
  3. Cleveland, Ohio, MPO " Vardar "
  4. Columbus, Ohio, MPO "Freedom"
  5. Detroit, Michigan, MPO "Fatherland"
  6. Fort Wayne, Indiana, MPO "Kostur"
  7. Indianapolis, Indiana, MPO "Damian Grueff"
  8. New Jersey Region, MPO "Strumishkata Petorka"
  9. Northwest Indiana Region, MPO "Rodina"
  10. Phoenix, Arizona, MPO "United"
  11. Southern California Region, MPO "Brothers Miladinovi"
  12. Springfield, Ohio, MPO "Solun"
  13. Washington, D.C., MPO "Liberty"
  14. Youngstown, Ohio, MPO "Todor Alexandroff"
  15. Toronto, Ontario, MPO " Switzerland of the Balkans"
  16. Toronto, Ontario, MPO "Victory" <
  17. Sao Paulo, Brazil, MPO "Strumishkata Petorka"

See also

References

  1. ^ The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World, Page 87 by Loring M. Danforth.
  2. ^ http://www.macedonian.org/Media/advocacy.asp
  3. ^ Article 4 in the first chart of MPO.
  4. ^ “Note” to Article 28 in the first chart of MPO.
  5. ^ The Macedonian Patriotic Organization in the United States, Canada and Australia, Ph.D. Trendafil Mitev
  6. ^ South Slavic Immigration in America. George J. Prpic, John Carroll University. Twayne Publishers. A division of G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, p. 249.
  7. ^ Macedonians in the USA, Politics. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, p. 692, edited by Stephan Thernstrom 1980, Belknap Press of Harvard University, Reproduced 2001 with permission of the publisher.
  8. ^ MPO History
  9. ^ Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples - Paul R. Magocsi, Multicultural History, p. 292, University of Toronto Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8020-2938-8.
  10. ^ http://www.macedonian.org/Media/falsetribune.asp

Sources

External links

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