Macedonian Patriotic Organization

File:MOBNO banner.jpg by immigrant volunteers. The abbreviation MOBNO is readable on it (Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Bulgarian People's Organization).]]

{{See also|Slavic speakers in Ottoman Macedonia|Macedonians (obsolete terminology)}}

The first Macedonian Bulgarian emigrant associations in the United States date back to 1899, with the foundation of the "Macedonian-Bulgarian Society Vasil Levski".Ivan Ilchev, (2007) To the Land That Was Never Promised. Bulgarian Emigration to the United States in the Late 19th - Early 20th Century. in Immigration and Emigration in Historical Perspective; {{ISBN|9788884924988}}, PLUS-Pisa University Press with Ann Katherine Isaacs as editor, pp. 119-140. Other associations include "Bulgarian-Macedonian American Committee" founded in 1904, "Nadezhda" founded in 1908, etc. In September 1913, delegates from Macedonian organizations in the United States and Canada gathered in Chicago, Illinois to form a Macedonian-Bulgarian National Union. The union published the newspaper "Svoboda", and had as its objective the autonomy for Macedonia and Adrianople. Some members of these organizations participated in the Balkan Wars as volunteers in the Macedonian-Adrianopolitan Volunteer Corps.Веселин Николов Трайков, Трендафил Митев, Документи за Македония на българската емиграция в САЩ, Канада и Австралия: т. 1, Макед. науч. инст., 1995, {{ISBN|954818723X}}, стр. 41. When World War I was over, a "Bulgarian National Congress" was held in Chicago in December 1918, where the delegates voted for a resolution which was sent to the Paris Peace Conference and to the governments of the Great Powers. In this document, the Macedonian Bulgarians insisted that the Macedonian issue would be resolved by turning the area into an independent state. However, the peace treaty in 1919, divided the Macedonian area mostly by Serbia and Greece where the domestic policies of state-sponsored Serbianizaton and Hellenization of the Slavic-speaking Macedonians began.{{Cite web |url=http://www.macedonian.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82 |title="MPO History – Founding Fathers Organize MPO in 1922 During Turbulent Years Following First World War" by Christo N. Nizamoff |access-date=September 9, 2023 |archive-date=September 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924143610/http://www.macedonian.org/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=82 |url-status=dead }}{{primary source inline|date=September 2023}} Thousands of emigres left their homes and moved to the States and Canada. For the next five years, these countries took the first places, after Bulgaria, in their numbers of Macedonian emigrants.Trendafil Mitev, MPO in the United States, Canada and Australia, Macedonian Scientific Institute, Sofia, 2002, online, [http://macedonia.kroraina.com/en/mpo/mpo_1.html Initial period].

The organization was formed in 1922.Thernstrom, Stephan ed. Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, Belknap Press of Harvard University, 1980, {{ISBN|9780674375123}}, p. 692. The organization managed to bring together Macedonian immigrants, primarily from Greek Macedonia.{{cite book |author=Andrew Rossos |title=Macedonia and the Macedonians: A History |date=2008 |publisher=Hoover Institution Press |isbn=9780817948818 |page=151}} Fort Wayne in Indiana was chosen as the site for the first formative convention, which took place on October 2, 1922, with a handful of delegates, most of whom were Ilinden veterans. The first convention charted a framework within which to build the structure of the new organization. It was founded as an overseas branch of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), to lobby for the solution of the Macedonian Question in the League of Nations and with the US government.Chris Kostov, Contested Ethnic Identity: The Case of Macedonian Immigrants in Toronto, 1900-1996, Peter Lang, 2010, {{ISBN|9783034301961}}, pp. 141–144.Dimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of North Macedonia, Rowman & Littlefield, 2019, {{ISBN|9781538119624}}, pp. 189–190. The name selected for the organization was the "Macedonian Political Organization" which remained its name until 1952. Its adopted slogan was 'Macedonia for the Macedonians'.

MPO's Articles of Incorporation from 1925 defined its purpose as follows: "For the mutual assistance and protection of people of Macedonian race - and for the liberation of Macedonia from political entities - and to foster the ancient right of Macedonia as a state and nation - all as more fully set out in its bylaws[.]"In Re Incorporation: The Macedonian Political Organization of the United States of America and Canada, Indiana Secretary of State, July 6, 1925; Articles of Incorporation, The Indianapolis News (Indianapolis, Indiana), Jul 7, 1925, Page 28 Throughout the next several annual conventions, the delegates finalized the organization's by-laws. The membership to the MPO per its by-laws was open to all people from the Macedonian region "regardless of nationality, religion, sex or convictions". The MPO had sought Macedonian autonomy, as well as the social and political awakening of Macedonian Bulgarian immigrants.Encyclopedia of Canada's peoples – Paul R. Magocsi, Multicultural History, p. 292, University of Toronto Press, 1999] {{ISBN|0-8020-2938-8}}.

File:Telegram by the Macedonian Brotherhood Kastoria in Fort Wayne, Indiana - 1922.jpg advocating for an autonomous Macedonia, 1922]]

File:MPO Parade Float.jpg in the 1937 Labor Day Parade in Indianapolis, Indiana]]

To fulfill the stipulations of the MPO by-laws, the delegates to the 4th annual MPO Convention in 1925 in Indianapolis, decided to establish a newspaper that was to become an official organ of the organization. The newspaper was founded under the name Macedonian Tribune, and its publication began under the guidance and leadership of the MPO Central Committee's Secretary Jordan Tchkatroff on February 10, 1927. Since 1927, branches of the organization have organized remembrance days for the Ilinden uprising. There is an Indiana state historical marker at the newspaper's original location from 1927 to 1949 in Indianapolis.{{cite web |url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=566 |title=Macedonian Tribune |publisher=The Historical Marker Database }} Tchkatroff's activities raised the attention of Yugoslav diplomatic and consular services in the US, which already had a watchful eye over the MPO.{{Cite journal|last=Mićić|first=Srđan|date=2015|title=Mission of Konstantin Todorov in North America 1927-1928: Yugoslav Foreign Service vs. Macedonian-Bulgarian organisations in North America|url=https://www.academia.edu/14644847|journal=Токови историје|volume=1|pages=91–101}} When Bulgaria annexed parts of Vardar Macedonia and Greek Macedonia in April 1941, the MPO initially congratulated Bulgaria's actions and supported the policy of re-introducing the Bulgarian language and clergy. However, MPO changed its stance on this matter when Bulgaria declared war on the United States in December 1941, and henceforth fully supported the US war effort.

After World War II, the MPO had 30 to 40 active members in Fort Wayne.{{cite news |url=https://www.kpcnews.com/heraldrepublican/article_f4bf985b-ca09-53ae-94b4-26d0fb013c0e.html |date=29 November 2022 |title=Orthodoxy in Northeastern Indiana |author=Oksana Kotkina }} While living in exile in Italy, the last leader of the IMRO, Ivan Mihailov, managed to re-organize the MPO into a legal successor organization of the IMRO in the United States and Canada.Cattaruzza, Marina; Dyroff, Stefan; Langewiesche, Dieter eds. Territorial Revisionism and the Allies of Germany in the Second World War: Goals, Expectations, Practices, Berghahn Books, 2012, {{ISBN|9781782389200}}, p. 169. This was acknowledged by a CIA analyst report from 1953, which dubbed the MPO as "the US branch of the IMRO", and asserted that through its then secretary Luben Dimitroff, it acted as a money-raising organ to support Mihailov's activities.{{Cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp83-00423r000300710001-9 |title=Background Whereabouts and Activities of Ivan Mihailov, 16 April 1953 |access-date=December 26, 2018 |archive-date=April 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425135100/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/document/cia-rdp83-00423r000300710001-9 |url-status=dead }} It continued to work for the old IMRO goal - an independent and united Macedonia, dominated by a Bulgarian population.James Pettifer (eds.) The New Macedonian Question, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, {{ISBN|9780333920664}}, p. 173. Through its newspaper Macedonian Tribune, the MPO criticized SFR Yugoslavia and PR Bulgaria, as well as Greece's anti-Slav Macedonian policies. In the case of Socialist Yugoslavia, the MPO initially sent a letter to President Josip Broz Tito congratulating him on the establishment of an autonomous Macedonia within the federation,"The Uncomfortable Truth about the Macedonian Political Organization". Victor Sinadinoski. Independently published, 2018 [Page 31]{{bcn|date=September 2023|reason=Does not appear to be an academic source and appears to be self-published.}} however, the organization soon raised its voice against the historiographic revisionism that was taking place in Yugoslavia,{{cn|date=September 2023}} which aimed at diminishing the Bulgarian cultural and historic heritage in Macedonia. In the 1970s, the Macedonian Tribune regularly printed articles and appeals by Mihailov. His memoirs (written in Bulgarian) were advertised by the paper and were avidly read.[http://www.kroraina.com/knigi/en/gp2/gp_21.htm South Slavic Immigration in America. George J. Prpic, John Carroll University. Twayne Publishers. A division of G. K. Hall & Co., Boston, p. 249.] His influence in the MPO was eventually diminished, when a younger generation of leaders, led by Ivan Lebamoff and Christo Nizamoff, confronted Mihailov's authoritarianism, and removed his supporters from leadership positions."Иван Михайлов – отвъд легендите, Том I". Гаджев, Иван. УИ „Св. Климент Охридски”, София, 2007. [Page 22]

File:MPO-petition-UN.jpg to a petition sent by the 32nd Annual MPO convention.]]

Throughout the period of the Cold War, the MPO continuously advocated with the United States and Canadian governments, the United Nations, and other relevant international factors for a solution to the Macedonian Question that would involve self-government for Macedonians under a United Nations protectorate. The organization also worked on raising international awareness regarding violations of human rights in all three parts of Macedonia.{{cn|date=September 2024}}

Over the years, a number of the Americans born of Macedonian Bulgarian descent began having less and less knowledge of Bulgaria and started identifying themselves often simply as Macedonians. In 1956, the MPO defined the terms "Macedonian" and "Macedonian immigrants" in its by-laws as applying equally to all nationalities in Macedonia - Bulgarians, Aromanians, Turks, Albanians and others. In the 1990s, MPO began openly accepting and embracing the ethnic Macedonian identity, alongside the Macedono-Bulgarian identity of the organization's founders. Prior to Macedonian independence, the MPO advocated for a "Free and Independent Macedonia – a Switzerland of the Balkans," comprising Vardar, Aegean and Pirin Macedonia, where all ethnic groups would co-exist in peace.Matjaž Klemenčič, The Reactions of Immigrants from the South Slavic Lands and their Descendants in the USA to the Dissolution of Yugoslavia (1989–1993), Dve domovini (Two Homelands), 2011, pp. 44–47. On February 22, 1990, the Macedonian Tribune published an article by then President Ivan Lebamoff, where he stated that MPO is responding to change in Macedonia, throughout the world, and in the organization itself by recognizing the reality of ethnic Macedonians, and by inviting them to join the ranks of the MPO as equals."Tumbling Walls Revisited" by Ivan Lebamoff. Macedonian Tribune. February 22, 1990 [Page 3]

File:Bill Clinton's letter to MPO.jpg's official greeting letter to the 76th annual MPO Convention.]]

Macedonia seceded from Yugoslavia on September 8, 1991, amending its constitutional name from Socialist Republic of Macedonia to Republic of Macedonia. Only days after the parliament of the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) declared its independence, a delegation of the MPO visited Washington, D.C., in an attempt to lobby with the US government to recognize the former as an independent state. The delegation was received by U.S. senators from Indiana - Dan Coats and Richard Lugar, as well as by members of the House of Representatives from Indiana. Throughout the 1990s, the MPO was lobbying for the recognition of Macedonia's independence.

To exert pressure for Macedonia's international recognition, MPO President Ivan Lebamoff sent a resolution prepared at the Detroit MPO Convention to many heads of state around the world."Delovanje makedonskih izseljencev iz ZDA in Kanade za neodvisnost in mednarodno priznanje Makedonije" by Matjaz Klemenčič. Studia Historica Slovenica 5(1–2–3): 585–605. Ljubljana, 2005. [Page 592–593] In September 1992, the MPO organized the "Forum on Macedonian Unity", which brought together the leaders of the MPO, the United Macedonians of Toronto and the representatives from the VMRO-DPMNE. The delegates agreed on a common goal – a free and independent Macedonia, and the result of the forum was a resolution in which they demanded the international recognition of the country."Delovanje makedonskih izseljencev iz ZDA in Kanade za neodvisnost in mednarodno priznanje Makedonije" by Matjaz Klemenčič. Studia Historica Slovenica 5(1–2–3): 585–605. Ljubljana, 2005. [Page 597]

File:Order of the IMRO Banner.png Banner", the most prestigious award presented by the Macedonian Patriotic Organization.]]

Throughout 1992, the Greek diaspora in the United States and Canada demonstrated against the recognition of the independence of Republic of Macedonia, above all against the name of the new state containing the word "Macedonia." They claimed that Macedonia was an ancient Greek name and that the newly declared independent state was stealing this name from them."The Macedonian Conflict: Ethnic Nationalism in a Transnational World", by Loring Danforth. Princeton University Press. Princeton. 1995. [Page 30-32] The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America also demanded that the Republic of Macedonia's independence not be recognized by the United States. In reaction to this, Lebamoff sent protest letters against this position to the patriarchs and bishops of Eastern Orthodox Churches worldwide as well as to numerous newspapers. He also demanded from Macedonian Americans to enhance their propaganda activities towards getting Republic of Macedonia internationally recognized as soon as possible. Macedonian Americans responded to his call with a mass campaign of writing numerous articles in American newspapers and making phone calls to U.S. senators."Delovanje makedonskih izseljencev iz ZDA in Kanade za neodvisnost in mednarodno priznanje Makedonije" by Matjaz Klemenčič. Studia Historica Slovenica 5(1–2–3): 585–605. Ljubljana, 2005. [Page 599–600] As a result of MPO's activism, in addition to political activities by officials from the Republic of Macedonia, the country was admitted to the UN.

MPO also used its influence in the US Senate to assist Macedonia's stabilization efforts. Lebamoff asked Indiana Senator Lugar to propose that the United States send US troops to the Republic of Macedonia. Lebamoff also informed Macedonian President Kiro Gligorov about his proposal. MPO proposal was also supported by the chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Rep. Fascell. In November 1992, the MPO asked Macedonian Americans to call the White House Hotline directly to ask President Bush to immediately recognize the Republic of Macedonia."Delovanje makedonskih izseljencev iz ZDA in Kanade za neodvisnost in mednarodno priznanje Makedonije" by Matjaz Klemenčič. Studia Historica Slovenica 5(1–2–3): 585–605. Ljubljana, 2005. [Page 603] In 1994, members of the MPO Central Committee visited Washington, D.C., several times to promote Macedonian American interests.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BfMszP0Hv0gC&dq=macedonian+patriotic+organization+1994+washington&pg=PA87 |title=A Stability-seeking Power |page=87-88 |author=Jonathan Paquin |publisher=McGill-Queens's University Press |isbn=9780773537361}}

In an unofficial interview for a Macedonian newspaper in 2005, former MPO President George Lebamoff sharply criticized the lack of democracy in the Republic of Macedonia, as well as the official misinterpretations of Macedonian history, with an emphasis on the Bulgarian historic heritage in the country.[https://tribuna.mk/ekskluzivno-georgi-dzhordzh-lebamov-mpo-za-kapital-vaka-nemate-idnina/ Ексклузивно: Георги (Џорџ) Лебамов (МПО) за Капитал: Вака немате иднина!, Tribuna, 1 September 2022.]

Macedonian Home of MPO "Prilep" in Steelton, PA.jpg|National Hall of MPO "Prilep" in Steelton, Pennsylvania

Macedonian Home of MPO "Pelister" in Akron, OH.jpg|National Hall of MPO "Pelister" in Akron, Ohio

1924 Lorain, Ohio MPO Alexander the Great.jpg|Members of the MPO chapter "Alexander the Great" from Lorain, Ohio, in 1924

MPO_5a_Convention.JPG|The 5th annual convention of the MPO in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 1926

Members of MPO in Windsor, ON.jpg|Members of the MPO chapter "Vlado G. Chernozemsky" in Windsor, Ontario, 1936

MPO kerchief from 1939.jpg|MPO commemorative kerchief from 1939 with slogans such as "Be proud you are from Macedonia!", "Macedonia gave literacy to all Slavs", "Without an independent Macedonia there is no peace in the Balkans", and "Macedonia is the cradle of the Bulgarian Revival".

MPO members from Banista Vevi Florina, Greece.jpg|An immigrant family from the village of Banitsa (today's Vevi, Florina region) wearing MPO hats, {{circa|1930}}

• Macedonian nationalism

{{Reflist|}}

• Sojourners and Settlers: The Macedonian Community in Toronto to 1940 [https://books.google.com/books?id=7BDcb0uvR7EC&dq=MPO++Bulgarian+Macedonian&pg=PA149] By Lillian Petroff
• Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples [https://books.google.com/books?id=dbUuX0mnvQMC&dq=MPO++Bulgarian+Macedonian&pg=PA292] By Paul R. Magocsi
• [http://www.everyculture.com/multi/Bu-Dr/Bulgarian-Americans.html The Bulgarian-Americans – Page 71 by Nikolay G. Altankov]
• [http://www.promacedonia.org/en/gl/index.html An American Macedonian, George Lebamoff]

{{Commons category|Macedonian Patriotic Organization}}

• {{YouTube|2qsi4zLr-mQ|Archival footage of the 12th MPO Convention, 1933}}
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/National_Character_Macedonian_Slavs.pdf "What is the National Character of the Macedonian Slavs", Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 1971]
• [https://www.strumski.com/biblioteka/?id=309 "The Case for an Autonomous Macedonia", Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 1945]
• [https://www.strumski.com/biblioteka/?id=255 "The Plight of the Bulgarians under the Rule of Serbs and Greeks from 1912 up to the Present Day", Indianapolis, Indiana, USA]
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/Dr.%20James%20Clark%20Speech.pdf "Dr. James F. Clarke's Speech. Guest-Speaker 58th MPO Convention. Macedonia from S.S. Cyril and Methodious to Horace Lunt and Blazhe Koneski: Language and Nationality", Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 1982]
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/Macedonians%20in%20North%20America%20ebook.pdf "Macedonians in North America", Toronto, Canada, 1960]
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/MPO_Makedonski_Almanah_1940.pdf Macedonian Almanac] (in Bulgarian)
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/Balkan%20Locarno.pdf "Balkan Locarno and the Macedonian question", Indianapolis, 1928]
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/The%20Balkans.pdf The Balkans. Useful Information for All Those Interested in the Situation of the Balkans (An Authoritative Turkish Document)", Indianapolis, Indiana, USA, 1969]
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/makedonec_bulgarin_i_makedonska_borba.pdf "Macedonian, Bulgarian and Macedonian Struggle", published in "Macedonian Tribune", issue 113, Indianapolis, USA, 1929] (in Bulgarian)
• [https://www.strumski.com/books/MPO_the_Bulgarians_in_Greek_Macedonia.pdf "Disclosure on the Situation of the Bulgarians in Greek Macedonia", Indiana, USA, 1960]

{{Macedonian diaspora organisations}}

{{Macedonian diaspora}}

{{Bulgarian diaspora}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Macedonian American history

Category:Bulgarian-American history

Category:Organizations based in Indiana

Category:Patriotic societies

Category:Organizations established in 1922

Category:1922 establishments in Indiana

Category:Organizations based in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Category:Culture of Fort Wayne, Indiana

Category:Anti-communist organizations in the United States

Category:Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization

Category:Macedonian Question