Aleksandar Zdravkovski

Intellectual Elite in Exile: the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society in Saint Petersburg, 1902-1917 Aleksandar Zdravkovski

This thesis concerns the formation of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society by a group of students at the University of St. Petersburg and its involvement in the Macedonian Question. It argues that the emergence of the MSLS was inspired by ideas of a separate Macedonian Slav identity that the students sought to translate into a platform for a prospective independent Macedonian state. This state was initially imagined as an autonomous Ottoman protectorate with provisions for an officially recognized language, nationality, and an autocephalous Orthodox Church. The development and modification of this idea is traced to accommodate local realities such as the Balkan Wars. Contrary to contemporary attitudes, it is shown that the movement of Macedonian students in St. Petersburg led by Dimitrija ?upovski was not an implement of the governments of Serbia, Bulgaria or Russia to further their own agendas. Through an examination of documents and publications produced by the MSLS as well as memoirs and letters, it is argued that this student organization developed an intricate national platform whose implementation in Macedonia was challenged by social and political circumstances.