The Republic of Macedonia lost an honored statesman, committed patriot, and its first democratically elected President this week when Kiro Gligorov died Sunday evening at his home in Skopje. He was 94 years old.
Gligorov, a lifelong political participant and leader among the Macedonian nationalists, became the leader of Macedonia while it was still a republic inside the former Yugoslavia. He then shepherded his people through a referendum on independence and led the country to a bloodless secession from Yugoslavia to become an independent country.
He narrowly escaped an assassination attempt on 3 October 1995. A car bomb killed his driver and a bystander, and left the President severely injured. He suffered permanent scars and disabilities, including the loss of his right eye.
Gligorov was born in Bulgarian occupied Stip during the First World War. He joined the partisans during WWII and was among the organizers of the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia, or ASNOM. He committed his life to the development of his country and the promotion of its national identity.
3 January 2012 was declared a national day of mourning in his honor.
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