This is the statue of Metodija Andonov-Čento in the heart of Macedonia Square, so although I hadn’t heard of him, it was evident that he was a nationally important figure. This statue was installed here in 2010 and he was awarded the “Order of the Republic of Macedonia” which sounds rather grand. This all means that because I saw a statue in Skopje, I now want to know all about him. I’d like to suggest that’s because travel broadens the mind, but it’s really because I get very distracted down rabbit holes.
Metodija Andonov-Čento (1902–1957) came from Prilep (now the fourth largest city in Macedonia) and he first emerged politically in the interwar period, when Vardar Macedonia was part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. He became associated with demands for Macedonian rights, including the use of the Macedonian language, and was imprisoned more than once before the Second World War for activity the authorities regarded as separatist. He was seen as a sub-optimal figure, they didn’t want this nationalism interfering with their wider country which was already a balancing act of different people. In short, the state was already finding him inconvenient and his political career was going to be interesting to say the least.
During the Second World War he refused to collaborate with the Bulgarian occupation authorities and became involved with the Macedonian Partisan movement. His role was largely political rather than military, which is perhaps just as well, as every revolution needs someone who can think beyond the immediate business of running around with rifles and looking purposeful. This is really the sort of thing that I would become involved with, a desk job involving gossip, rather than doing any of the dangerous fighting bit. He duly became part of the wider anti-fascist structures that were shaping the future Yugoslavia, while continuing to press for a stronger Macedonian national position.
His most important moment came in 1944, when he became the first president of the presidium of ASNOM, the Anti-Fascist Assembly for the National Liberation of Macedonia. ASNOM helped establish Macedonia as a republic within the new federal Yugoslavia, making Čento a central figure in modern Macedonian statehood. In normal circumstances this would have been the point at which history rewarded him with a commemorative stamp, a few civic dinners and the right to look solemn in official photographs, but the Balkans rarely arrange things that neatly.
Čento soon once again came into conflict with the Yugoslav communist authorities, particularly over the question of Macedonian autonomy and the idea of a united Macedonia. He wanted a much more independent Macedonian political path than the one acceptable to Belgrade and the new communist leadership in Skopje. In 1946 he was arrested, tried and sentenced to eleven years in prison on charges linked to separatism and alleged anti-Yugoslav activity. It was very much a show trial and Čento was out of favour.
He was released in poor health in 1955 which at least showed some vague attempt at kindness and he died in Prilep in 1957, an outcast figure whose name was unlikely to go down in history. But that logic fell apart when the communists were thrown out of office and attitudes changed quickly when North Macedonia became independent. The 1946 verdict was overturned and he was rehabilitated as a major figure in Macedonian national history and he is now seen as a hero of the people. The victors get to write history and all that, although in Čento’s case the posthumous editorial board appears to have made some substantial revisions.