Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society

The Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society, sometimes called as Slavic-Macedonian Scholarly and Literary Society[2] was an organization of the Macedonians in Russia in the first decades of the twentieth century. Its creation was influenced by the Macedonian Club, a literary society in Belgrade and it fought for creation of independent Macedonia,[3] encompassing the entire geographic and ethnic region of Macedonia, according to maps drawn by the society itself.[4] One of its founders was Dimitrija Čupovski who was its president from 1902 to 1917.

Map of Macedonia from a publication in the newspaper "Makedonski Golos", issued by the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society.[1]

The Macedonian Literary and Scientific Society was the most prominent society of the Macedonians abroad.[5] It was established in St. Petersburg on 28 October 1902 and was presided over by Dimitrija Čupovski.The society expended its work in Sofia, Odessa,[6] Skopje, Veles and Thessaloniki.[7] As part of its scholarly and literary activities, the society supported the introduction of the Macedonian language as its official one[8]

It published the first book in a precursor of the modern Macedonian literary language (Za Makedonskite Raboti - On Macedonian Matters) in 1903 by Krste Misirkov. The book was published in the central dialects of Macedonia, which would later form the core of the Macedonian Literary Language, as proposed in the book itself.[9] The book also used a modified Cyrillic script which served as a basis for standardization of the Macedonian alphabet.[10]

In 1905 the Society published Vardar, the first scholarly, scientific and literary journal in the central dialects of Macedonia, which later would contribute in the standardization of the Macedonian Language,[11] while in 1913 it produced the first ethnic and geographic map of Macedonia. In addition it published the most renowned journal in Macedonian and Russian called "Makedonskye golos" or in English "Macedonian voice". Also it designed its own flag and supported the idea of independent Macedonian state.[12]

This scholarly institution with its literary and national cultural activity is considered the foundation upon which the history of the modern Macedonian Academy of Arts and Sciences was built upon.[13][14][15][16]