Mihailo Apostolski

Life Early life Apostolski was born as Mihail Mitev Apostolov in Novo Selo, in the Kosovo vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia) on November 8, 1906, into a Bulgarian Exarchist family, to Mite Apostolov and Vasa Apostolova. He attended primary and secondary school in Štip. Shortly after, his father, a First World War Bulgarian army veteran, petitioned the Bulgarian Minister of Defense to help release Apostolski.

After being released from prison, Apostolski received a certificate that he was a "Bulgarian" on June 23, 1941. On November 18, he filed an application for appointment in the Bulgarian army. He was offered the rank of captain, however he refused. On December 15, General Konstantin Lukash, interceded for him, looking for a job in the Bulgarian State Railways' system, but without success. Afterwards, Apostolski entered the Sofia University under a fake name, where he conducted underground work. In April 1942, he became a member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, and in June the same year he was appointed as commander of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Macedonia. On October 1, 1944, he was promoted to Lieutenant General. He was accused by Bulgarian academics of systematically falsifying history and using hate speech against Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people. He was actively involved in the formation of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, of which he was member of since its creation. He was also its president from 1976 to 1983. In 1995, the Military Academy in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia), was named "General Mihailo Apostolski". Per historian Chris Kostov, the works by him and his contemporaries were based on their negative experiences with the Bulgarian authorities.