Skopje, 21 December 2024 (MIA) - Journalists Atanas Kostovski and Ljupcho Jolevski, as well as non-fiction writers Ivan Antonovski and Delvina Kërluku were presented Saturday with the Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin National Award for excellence in journalistic and non-fiction writing.

At a ceremony in the Parliament, the recipients of the award noted the importance of Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin and his contribution to the establishment of Macedonian journalistic and non-fiction writing.

“The Macedonian journalistic spring died down too soon. In a year of jubilees in journalism – 80 years since ‘Mlad Borec’, Nova Makedonija, Radio Skopje, and 60 since TV Skopje, it is an honor to receive an award bearing the name of the first quill of Macedonian journalism, Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin,” said journalist Atanas Kostovski.

Zoran Bojarovski, member of the award committee, said the committee would work with the Ministry of Culture to increase the affirmation of the award and raise awareness over its significance.

“Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin is a prominent figure in the state-building national liberation war. Following the liberation from the fascist occupation and the creation of the Macedonian state, Jasmin became an active participant in the efforts to establish journalism as a profession and create the journalistic institutions,” Bojarovski said.

Mito Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin (1922-1968) was a prolific Macedonian journalist, nonfiction writer, and political activist.

He was one of the first editors-in-chief of Nova Makedonija, the oldest daily newspaper in the country.

Hadzhivasilev-Jasmin was also the first president of the Association of Journalists of Macedonia, founded in 1946.

The annual journalism and nonfiction award bearing his name was established a year after his death in 1969.

Photo: MIA