Metodija Andonov-Cento
Encyclopedia
Metodija Andonov-Čento (August 17, 1902 – July 24, 1957) was a Macedonian statesman, the first president of the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia and of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...

 in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

 after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

.

Early life

Metodi Andonov was born in Prilep
Prilep
Prilep is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of 66,246 citizens. Prilep is known as "the city under Marko's Towers" because of its proximity to the towers of Prince Marko.-Name:...

, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

. Today it is in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

. He was the first healthy child of Andon Mitskov and Zoka Koneva, as his older siblings bore diseases. As a child, he worked in opium poppy
Opium poppy
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine , thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine...

 fields and harvested tobacco. During his adolescence, he was considered to be an excellent gymnast
Gymnast
Gymnasts are people who participate in the sports of either artistic gymnastics, trampolining, or rhythmic gymnastics.See gymnasium for the origin of the word gymnast from gymnastikos.-Female artistic:Australia...

.

On March 25, 1930, he married Vasilka Spirova Pop Atanasova in Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

 and fathered four children, including Ilija Andonov-Čento, a politician in today's Republic of Macedonia.

Pre-war era and the National Liberation War of Macedonia

At the 1938 Yugoslav elections, he was elected deputy but not a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...

 because of a manipulation with the electoral system. In 1939, he was imprisoned at Velika Kikinda for co-organizing the Ilinden Demonstrations in Prilep. The following year, he imposed the use of the Macedonian language
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...

 in school lectures and was therefore imprisoned at Bajina Bašta
Bajina Bašta
Bajina Bašta is a town located in the western mountains of Serbia. The town lies in the valley of the Drina River at the eastern edge of Tara National Park...

 and sentenced to death by the government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...

 for advocating the use of a language other than Serbo-Croatian
Serbo-Croatian language
Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

. On April 15, 1941, he was presented to a firing squad, but was released just prior to being shot.

During the Bulgarian occupation of Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...

, Čento received an invitation to collaborate with the Bulgarian occupational authorities but refused, favoring the achievement of liberating Macedonia.

Čento's liquor store was used as a front for the communist resistance in Macedonia, which prompted Bulgarian authorities to imprison him. In 1944, he was elected as President of Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia. Čento's goal was to create a fully independent United Macedonia
United Macedonia
United Macedonia is an irredentist concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia in southeastern Europe, which they claim as their homeland, and which they assert was wrongfully divided under the Treaty of Bucharest in 1913, into a single...

n
state or as a constituent republic
Constituent country
Constituent country is a phrase sometimes used in contexts in which a country makes up a part of a larger entity. The term constituent country does not have any defined legal meaning, and is used simply to refer to a country which is a part Constituent country is a phrase sometimes used in contexts...

 within the new communist SFR Yugoslavia. The latter became a reality with the formation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia
Socialist Republic of Macedonia
The Socialist Republic of Macedonia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia...

, however, Čento as its first president wanted a greater independence for the republic from the federal Yugoslav authorities. He clashed with Svetozar Vukmanović-Tempo
Svetozar Vukmanovic-Tempo
Svetozar Vukmanović "Tempo" was a leading Montenegrin communist and member of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia...

, Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...

’s envoy to Macedonia and Lazar Koliševski
Lazar Koliševski
Lazar Koliševski was a Communist political leader in Socialist Republic of Macedonia and briefly the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia closely allied with Tito.- Early years :...

, the leader of the ruling Communist Party of Macedonia.

Post-war era and death

After disagreement with the policy of new Yugoslavia and after being repressed by the authorities, Čento resigned. In 1946, he went back to Prilep, but was arrested yet again and sentenced to twelve years in prison for having worked to achieve a "completely independent Macedonia".

Čento died home on July 24, 1957, after sickness from torture in prison.

Legacy

Metodija Andonov-Čento was rehabilitated in 1991 with a decision of the Supreme Court of Macedonia in which it annulled the verdict against Čento from 1946.

In 1992, his family and followers established a Čento Foundation, which initiated a lawsuit for damages against the Government of Macedonia. The agenda of the foundation is to support young students, should they win the court proceeding. Until the present day (2009), a decision has not been made by the courts due to procedural lapses.

External links

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