Prilep, 24 September 2021 (MIA) – A central event celebrating the 100-year anniversary of Blazhe Koneski’s birth, as well as the 20-year anniversary of the Nebregovo Macedonian Language Foundation, was held Friday in Nebregovo, Blazhe Koneski’s birthplace. According to Atanas Koneski, foundation secretary, it’s a special honor that the 20-year anniversary of the foundation corresponds with the 100-year anniversary of Blazhe Koneski’s birth. “We’ve held multiple events in various places around the country. The foundation’s activities are conducted all year long. Blazhe Koneski is a pillar of Macedonian culture, literature and poetry. He is the visionary of everything that happens in the cultural and societal life, what rests upon permanent foundational values, starting from Cyril and Methodius, Clement and Naum, Krste Petkov Misirkov, Kocho Racin and other important people. Blazhe Koneski is a beacon of our country, the man who has lit our way to the permanent values of our lives and cultural identity even in times of trials and tribulations,” Koneski said. The national coordinator at the Ministry of Culture, Robert Alagjozoski, said that Koneski secured peace through the basic issue – the language of a nation. “It’s an honor to be here, at the birthplace of the great Koneski, honoring him in the year that UNESCO and our government declared the Year of Blazhe Koneski. In this year of peace and good neighborliness, as declared by the UN, Blazhe Koneski’s work brought peace to this region, because he determined the key identity marker or a people – language. The Macedonian language stays our permanent value, a benefit, and it’s the government’s and the future generations’ duty to preserve and nurture it,” Alagjozoski said. Scholar Katica Kjulavkova said that MANU will complete their work of many years of the multiple-volume edition of Koneski’s works for his birthday, December 19. “The program for the marking of the 100-year anniversary since Koneski’s birth is all-encompassing and lasts all year long. Especially during the last month of the year, around December 19, Koneski’s birthday, we’re planning to promote his overall body of work in an edition. This project has been in the works for 7-8 years now, initially led by Milan Gjurchinov, but since his passing, I’ve been in charge. We’ve been intensely working on seven volumes that are to be published this year. Ten have been completed, a few remain, and we will present it before the public as a critical edition of Blazhe Koneski. Among other things, these works will show Koneski’s role in the establishing and continuation of continuity between Old Slavonic literature and language that he studied, the medieval period, and especially the 19th century, to which Koneski adds to with his linguistic, philological and grammarian work,” Kjulavkova said. The Nebregovo Macedonian Language foundation said that in the twenty years of its existence, they’ve published five books about Koneski in the "Macedonian Word" edition, in which 150 authors expressed their opinions of him. The “Koneski Incentive” edition published nine out of the 15 planned books. The Foundation’s monograph “Koneski inspires and motivates”, as well as three republished books authored by Koneski: “Koneski the Grammarian”, “The Macedonian Literature and the Macedonian Literary Language” and the 1948 book “The Latest Attack on the Macedonian Language” were promoted in Nebregovo on Friday as well. Around 720 visitors wrote down their thoughts in the book of impressions in the Nebregovo memorial house. Among other attendees at the event were Archbishop Stefan and bishops Petar and Klement. dk/ba/