Petar Zdravkovski

Petar Zdravkovski – Penko (November 4, 1912, Prilep, Ottoman Empire – July 26, 1967 Beirut, Lebanon) – educator, statesman, diplomat.

Petar Zdravkovski
Петар Здравковски - Пенко
Born	November 4, 1912 Prilep, Ottoman Empire
Died	July 26, 1967 Beirut, Lebanon
Monuments	Elementary school in Skopje
Nationality	Macedonian
Other names	Penko
Occupation	educator, statesman, diplomat
Spouse(s)	Zdravka Zdravkovska

Biography

Petar Zdravkovski - Penko was born on November 4, 1912 in Prilep, Ottoman Empire. He graduated from the Teachers College in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, where he became involved in the students' and workers' Socialist movement. After graduation he worked as a teacher in the villages of Grnčarevo and Podmočani near Resen.[1]

He joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and after the Bulgarian fascist occupation he took part in the preparations for the armed resistance in Prilep. He was jailed and after a long interrogation he was interned in Bulgaria. In the spring of 1943 he returned to Macedonia, and in the autumn of the same year he joined the armed partisan forces in Debarca.

After the Second World War he was appointed to various political functions: teacher at the Party High School in Skopje, Chief of the Press Department of the Government of the People’s Republic of Macedonia (PRM); head of Radio Skopje (1947-1949); Secretary General of the PRM Government (1949-1950), member of the Executive Council of PRM;[2] Minister of the Council of Education (1957-1962); Minister of the Council for Science; member of the Parliament of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia Central Committee. As Minister of Education, he was President of the Council of the University in Skopje.

Diplomatic career

He was fluent in French and had a working knowledge of English, Russian and Turkish. He started his diplomatic career as a minister plenipotentiary (rank of ambassador) to the Yugoslav diplomatic mission in Helsinki, Finland (1950-1953).[3] He was appointed chief of staff of the Department for Foreign Affairs in Belgrade (1953-1954) and consul general of Yugoslavia to Marseilles, France (1954-1957). In 1965 he was appointed ambassador of Yugoslavia to Beirut, Lebanon (also accredited to Jordan),[4] where after a short illness he passed away in 1967.

He was buried with high state honors in the Alley for Distinguished Citizens in the Butel cemetery in Skopje.[5]

Decorations

He was awarded many national and international decorations: Commemorative Medal of the Partisans of 1941 (October 26, 1946), Yugoslav Fraternity and Unity Medal (June 1, 1947), Yugoslav Medal of Merit (June 1, 1947), Yugoslav Medal for Courage (April 14, 1950), Grand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland (December 12, 1952), Yugoslav Order of the Republic (November 27, 1961), Officer of the French Legion of Honor (May 7, 1956), Lebanese National Order of the Cedar (posthumously, October 11, 1967).[6]

In the Butel municipality in Skopje an elementary school bears his name.

References

1. Veljkovic, Dragoslav (1985). "Петар Здравковски - Пенко" [Petar Zdravkovski - Penko]. In Kondarko, Blagoj (ed.). Петар Здравковски – Пенко [Progressive Teachers in Macedonia]. Напредното учителство во Македонија (in Macedonian). Skopje: Prosvetno delo. pp. 155–160. 371:329.14/.15(497.17)„1937-1945“(093.3).
2. Carla, Konta (2016). Waging public diplomacy: The United States and the Yugoslav experiment (1950-1972), PhD thesis, (PDF). Università degli studi di Trieste. pp. 243, 246–247.
3. "The new FPRY envoy to Finland leaves for his post". Borba (periodicals; newspaper; and press translations by Central Intelligence Agency Document number CIA-RDP83-00415R006700120001-3 declassified and released through the CIA's CREST database). Belgrade. October 21, 1950. Retrieved June 9, 2018.
4. The Europa Year Book 1968 Vol. II (pdf). London: Europa Publications Ltd. 1968. pp. 789.
5. "Со високи почести вчера е закопан Петар Здравковски – Пенко" [With high honors yesterday was buried Petar Zdavkovski – Penko]. Nova Makedeonija. Skopje. July 27, 1967. pp. 1–2.
6. Saso Dodevski, 65 Years Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Macedonia 1944-2009, (translated by Saso Kocarev) Prosvetno delo, Skopje, 2009, ISBN 978-9989-0-0750-7

Further reading

• Izvori za osloboditelnata vojna i revolucija vo Makedonija 1941-1945: Dokumenti na Komunističkata partija na Jugoslavija i Komunističkata partija na Makedonija 1941-1945 (in Macedonian). Institut za nacionalna istorija. 1968. p. 434.