Secret Macedonian Committee

Temko Popov, one of the leaders of the society

The Macedonian Society or Secret Macedonian Society (Macedonian: Тајниот македонски комитет) was secret organization established in 1886 by Macedonian Slavs in Sofia, Bulgaria,^[1] to promote a kind of Macedonian pro-Serbian identity, distinguished especially from the ethnic identity of the Bulgarians.^[2] Its leaders were Naum Evrov, Kosta Grupčev, Vasilij Karajovev and Temko Popov.^[3]

In 1886 the Bulgarian government revealеd the organization and it was disbanded. Part from its member went in the same year to Belgrade, where the Government of Serbia established a cooperation with the Macedonian Society. Through support to the Macedonian movement the Government of Serbia had intention to suppress the process of Bulgarization of Macedonian Christian Slavs or to debulgarize them.^[4] In accordance with the Serbo-Macedonian cooperation in the same year in Constantinople was founded the Association of Serbo-Macedonians. This compromise with the Serbian interests in Macedonia, led it later to abandonment of its separatist program altogether.^[5]

References

^ 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. The Macedonian Question: Cultural, Historiography, Politics, Victor Roudometof, East European Monographs, 2000, ISBN 0880334517, p 185.
^ But it can indicate that the “Slav-Macedonian” identity was also the result of the same instrumentalization. That identity was even directly encouraged by representatives of Belgrade. Here the example most often referred to by Bulgarian polemicist is that of Stojan Novakovic... “Macedonism” was seen by Novaković as a possible counterweight to Bulgarian influence in Macedonia: according to the Serbian diplomat, Belgrade had to use the existing, Macedonian linguistic and identitary particularism and to encourage its development. Similarly, some of the first “Macedonists” were educated in Serbia or under Serbian cultural influence, sometimes they sought to spride that influence. Such was the example of Macedonian Slavs who migrated to Serbia and developed a kind of Macedonian pro-Serbian identity. This was likely the case with four activists - Temko Popov, Naum Evrov, Kosta Grupčev and Vasilije Karajovev, who in 1886 formed in Sofia an ephemeral Secret Macedonian Committee. Roumen Daskalov and Tchavdar Marinov. Entangled Histories of the Balkans: Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies. BRILL, 2013. p. 317.
^ Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije. 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
^ Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije. 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
^ Sociolinguistica, Volumes 5–6, Klaus J. Mattheier, Publisher: M. Niemeyer, 1991, ISBN 3484603682, p. 131.

[1] 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. The Macedonian Question: Cultural, Historiography, Politics, Victor Roudometof, East European Monographs, 2000, ISBN 0880334517, p 185.

[2] But it can indicate that the “Slav-Macedonian” identity was also the result of the same instrumentalization. That identity was even directly encouraged by representatives of Belgrade. Here the example most often referred to by Bulgarian polemicist is that of Stojan Novakovic... “Macedonism” was seen by Novaković as a possible counterweight to Bulgarian influence in Macedonia: according to the Serbian diplomat, Belgrade had to use the existing, Macedonian linguistic and identitary particularism and to encourage its development. Similarly, some of the first “Macedonists” were educated in Serbia or under Serbian cultural influence, sometimes they sought to spride that influence. Such was the example of Macedonian Slavs who migrated to Serbia and developed a kind of Macedonian pro-Serbian identity. This was likely the case with four activists - Temko Popov, Naum Evrov, Kosta Grupčev and Vasilije Karajovev, who in 1886 formed in Sofia an ephemeral Secret Macedonian Committee. Roumen Daskalov and Tchavdar Marinov. Entangled Histories of the Balkans: Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies. BRILL, 2013. p. 317.

[3] Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije. 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

[4] Dragan Taškovski (1969). Rađanje makedonske nacije. 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

[5] Sociolinguistica, Volumes 5–6, Klaus J. Mattheier, Publisher: M. Niemeyer, 1991, ISBN 3484603682, p. 131.

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