From Macedonism to Neo-Macedonism: The Self–Identification of Alexander the Great

Abstract

A very popular belief amongst the Macedonian Slavs of the 19th century was that the ancient Macedonians were their ethno-genetic ancestors. It is said that even distinguished Macedono-Bulgarian educators like Konstnatin and Dimitar Miladinov (1830–1962 & 1810–1962) believed that “not only Philip, Alexander and the Ancient Macedonians were Slavs, but also Homer, Demosthenes and Strabo” (Marinov, 2013, p. 385). In 1878, Giorgi Pulevski (1823–1893) — widely regarded as the “father” of Slavo-Macedonian nationhood and a pioneer of Macedonism (Friedman, 1986, p. 285; Rossos, 2008, p. 95; Koneski, 1961. 61; Pribichevich, 1982, p. 113) — was urging his countrymen to rise up and fight for Macedonia’s independence: “like our people under Alexander fought” (Koneski, 1961, p. 74). Pulevski’s beliefs vis a vis the ethno-genetic continuity between the Slavs of his time and the ancient Macedonians are best articulated in one of his poems.