Top 10 Most Famous People from Macedonia

Stone Bridge, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Photo by Diego Delso- Wikimedia commons

Top 10 Most Famous People from Macedonia

North Macedonia is a Balkan country in the south-central Balkans. It shares borders with Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south, and Albania to the west. Skopje is the capital city.

The Republic of North Macedonia is situated in the northern part of the geographic area widely recognized as Macedonia, which is boarded to the south by the Aegean Sea and the Aliákmon River; to the west by Lakes Prespa and Ohrid, the watershed west of the Crni Drim River, and the Ar Mountains; and to the north by the Skopska Crna Gora mountains and the watershed between the Morava and Vardar river basins. The Pirin Mountains form its eastern boundary.

The Republic of North Macedonia accounts for roughly two-fifths of Macedonia’s total land area. Greece and Bulgaria control the rest of the region.

Most Macedonians call the region that makes up North Macedonia Vardar Macedonia, the Greek part of Macedonia Aegean Macedonia, and the Bulgarian part of Macedonia Pirin Macedonia.

1.Nick Vanoff

Nick Vanoff was a dancer, producer, and philanthropist who was born on October 25, 1929 and died on March 20, 1991.

Vanoff’s career began as a dancer with Charles Weidman’s Dance Theatre. He later worked as a principal dancer for the New York City Opera. He also performed in the Broadway musical Kiss Me, Kate.

Vanoff worked as a cue card holder on The Perry Como Show before becoming an associate producer. He co-produced The Tonight Show with William O. Harbach when Steve Allen was the host. He also created and produced the Kennedy Center Honors.

He produced over ten hours of television each week in the 1960s, shows featuring Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Don Knotts, Milton Berle and Sonny and Cher. He produced the film Eleni a few years later, in 1985.

Vanoff received a Tony Award for Best Musical in 1990 for his Broadway production of the City of Angels musical. He also won five Emmys for his work as a producer, including The Julie Andrews Hour in 1973, The Kennedy Center Honors in 1984, 1987, and 1989, and Julie Andrews’ special, The Sound of Christmas, in 1988.

The Publicists Guild of America named him Showman of the Year in 1990. (which later merged into the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees).

Vanoff was a co – founder of the Joffrey Ballet Foundation. He was also a member of the Center Theatre Group’s Board of Directors in Los Angeles.

2.Suad Gruda

Skopje, North Macedonia. Photo by Mark de Jong- Unsplash

Suad Gruda was born on 27th July 1991, is a retired Swedish and Montenegrin footballer who last played as a midfielder for Nyköpings BIS.

Gruda was born in Macedonia however, his family moved to Sweden and Lule a year later. He spent his early years at IFK Lule prior to moving to Degerfors IF and then Allsvenskan club Gefle IF in 2010, after spending a year with his original team.

After leaving Gefle two years later, he participated in the Finland’s second-tier JIPPO before joining Nyköpings BIS in March 2013. Gruda left Nyköpings BIS for Ume FC on August 11, 2013 however, returned the following season.

He announced his retirement from the game in November 2019, citing chronic knee issues.

Gruda played one game for Montenegro’s national under-21 football team against Andorra in the 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification.

3.Risto Bimbiloski

Risto Bimbiloski was born in 1975 in Macedonia. He is the founder and creative director of Risto, a Macedonian fashion label based in Paris. His style is described as Acidchique.

Risto Bimbiloski, a graduate of Ecole Duperré, began his career at Jean Colonna and Thierry Mugler. At the Hyères International Fashion Festival, he debuted his first collection.

Risto Bimbiloski founded the Risto brand as a collection of handcrafted knitwear. His couture began with four knitters.

Risto Bimbiloski previously worked for Louis Vuitton (menswear knitwear), Kenzo with Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, and Maison Margiela. Risto was worn by celebrities such as Katy Perry, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rowan Blanchard, Santigold, and Courtney Love.

Tavi Gevinson chose Risto as one of the world’s most significant and forward-thinking contemporary designers for his book Pattern (Phaidon Press Ltd). Risto items were available in 50 stores across the United States, Europe, and Asia.

4.Maja Hill

Hill was born in 1976 in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now North Macedonia) and presently works and lives in the United Kingdom. While her body of work is primarily comprised of oil paintings, particularly portraits and cityscapes, she is recognized for working in a variety of artistic fields of study.

She has had numerous exhibitions in the Balkans and globally, such as London, New York, and Paris.

Hill depicts the city, people, and whatever occurs on the streets and sidewalks in her paintings. Hill (then Maja Dzartovska) graduated from the Fine Arts Academy in Professor Simon Semov’s class. University of Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, 1999.

Hill managed to win the portrait award at the annual exhibition of the National Society of Macedonian Artists (DLUM) in 2000. In the autumn of that year, she held her first open solo exhibition in the Skopje City Gallery.

It included 70 paintings. Hill went on to pursue a career as an artist, primarily through portrait royalties however, also through other art-related projects such as book art and collaboration in a UN project to provide art educating to poor and disadvantaged Roma (gypsy) children.

She relocated to Paris in 2002 to attend the Cité internationale des arts and to exhibit and work in the city. Hill then returned to the United Kingdom to pursue a post-graduate degree that combined her growing interest in animation and digital interactive art.

Hill now resides in the United Kingdom and exhibits throughout Europe; for many years, she has also worked in the creation of digital images, in 3-D, for Project Labyrinth, Little Louise and a variety of 2-D animation projects.

5.Katarina Ivanovska

Katarina Ivanovska modeling in Cynthia Rowley spring 2007 show, New York Fashion Week. Photo by Peter Duhon- Wikimedia commons

Katarina Ivanovska is Macedonian and was born on 18th August 1988. She is a model and actress from Macedonia. She started her modeling career in 2004, when she won the Look Models International model search in North Macedonia and she debuted at Milan Fashion Week.

She was photographed for Elle magazine in December 2004 and she has also made an appearance in Citizen K, Stiletto and the Italian and Russian issues of Vogue. In 2006, she appeared on the covers of Diva and Máxima magazines, as well as in ad campaigns for D&G.

She is widely regarded as the most prolific Macedonian model. Ivanovska was featured in the Serbian Elle magazine in 2010. She signed a deal to promote Victoria’s Secret items in 2011. She starred in the Macedonian film The Third Half in 2012.

6.Stefan Markovski

Markovski was born on December 1, 1990, in Gevgelija, where he completed his primary and secondary education. He relocated to Skopje in 2009, where he graduated from the Department of Comparative Literature and then the Institute of Philosophy at the State University of Skopje.

With the feature film script My Name Is Freedom, he received an MA in Screenwriting from the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in 2018. He is the editor-in-chief of Sovremenost, Macedonia’s oldest literary magazine, and the editor of the poetry collections Metric caravan.

Markovski is a member of the Macedonian Writers’ Association, the European poetry platform “Versopolis,” the International Theatre Institute’s Macedonian center, and other international organizations. Parts of Markovski’s works have been translated into other languages.

His books Letters of Heresy: Uncovering the Skies Shining in Red, The Bumblebee Anatomy, Faustus Runs the Plebeian Circle, and Promised Land were translated into English and made available on major bookselling platforms. His novel The Bumblebee Anatomy, published under the pen name Stemarcus, reached number one in the Eastern European Literature category in 2021. He currently resides and works in Skopje.

Markovski’s writing career began in 2009, when his first book, One Way (днонaсоно), was published and won the Petre M. Andreevski award.

All throughout his career, he has won accolades for his influence to modern Macedonian literature, including the “Knizeven krug” and “Macedonian Literary Avant-garde” for the short story collections Faustus Runs the Plebeian Circle (ауст о тра леескиот кру) and The Wind-and-Fog Seller and Other Stories (родаваот на ветар и мала и), the “Beli Mugri” prize for his poetry collection “Shy Shine the Universes” (иво сaат вселените), the “Krste Chachanski” prize for his short story collection “Death Flies in Smirking” (мртта долетува насмевната), the “7 November Award” of the Municipality of Gevgelija, the “Knjizevno pero” of the Croatian Writer (HKD) for the novel of the year, the UNESCO and Makedonika awards for Macedonian authors under the age of 30, and so on.

In June 2021, Markovski was titled International Poet of the Week by the British literary journal The Poet Magazine, and he was also titled International Poet of the Year in the same year.

7.Lui Temelkovski

Temelkovski was born in the Yugoslav town of Brajino, which is now part of the Republic of North Macedonia. In 1968, his family immigrated to Canada. McMaster University awarded him a Bachelor of Arts degree. He worked for Freedom 55 Financial, a Canadian financial services company, as a sales manager. He and his wife, Loretta, raised four children in Markham. He speaks Italian and Macedonian fluently.

Temelkovski ran as the Liberal candidate in the new Oak Ridges—Markham riding in the 2004 Canadian federal election. By 11,252 votes, he beat Conservative candidate Bob Callow. He was a backbencher for the Paul Martin administration.

Temelkovski was the first Macedonian-born Canadian Member of Parliament. He was assigned to the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration in 2004. He was also a member of the Standing Committee on International Trade.

He was re-elected in 2006, beating Callow once more. He served one term in opposition after the Liberals lost the election. He was the critic for Public Works and Government Services at the time.

He was beaten by Conservative candidate Paul Calandra by 545 votes in the 2008 election. In the 2011 election, he ran again and was beaten by Calandra, this time by more than 20,000 votes.

Temelkovski showed an interest in the nomination for the new Markham—Stouffville riding in 2013 however, the party chose Jane Philpott, who went on to defeat Calandra in the 2015 election.

8.Dimitrija Čupovski

Dimitrija Čupovski is one of the most prominent proponents of Macedonian national ideologies. He began his education in Sofia, where he worked with Krste Petkov Misirkov, one of Macedonia’s most important reformers.

He resided in Russia from 1898 until the end of his life. Čupovski devoted his entire life to the Macedonian national cause, inspired by concepts of Macedonian independence.

He served as the president of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Association, which published the magazine ‘Makedonski Glas’ (Macedonian Voice). Čupovski passed away in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) in 1940, and his ashes were repatriated to Macedonia in 1991.

9.Dr. Zoran T. Popovski

Macedonian Airforce. Photo by Slavcho Malezanov- Unsplash

Dr. Zoran T. Popovski is a Macedonian scientist and professor at Ss. Cyril and Methodius University’s Institute of Animal Biotechnology, part of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food. He is a molecular biologist who specializes in animal science, genetic engineering, and GMOs. He’s been with the university since 1992.

He worked as a State Secretary in the Republic of Macedonia’s Ministry of Education and Science from 2002 to 2006. He was a member of the National Expert Group and worked on Education Strategy in this capacity. He also represented Macedonian Science and Technology in the EU region of the Western Balkans.

Popovski’s most recent paper looked at polymorphism in the genomes of indigenous Macedonian and Slovenian sheep breeds.

10.Marko Blazhevski

Marko Blazhevski was born on 10, November 1992. He is a swimmer from Macedonia who participates in the Men’s 400m Individual Medley. He finished 34th overall in the heats of the Men’s 400 metre individual medley at the 2012 Summer Olympics and did not advance to the final.

Blazhevski earned his bachelor’s degree from Wingate (North Carolina) University, where he was a member of the men’s swimming team from 2010 to 2014. In 2011, 2012, and 2014, he was the NCAA Division II national men’s individual medley champion.