GRIGOR PRLICEV

GRIGOR PRLICEV author of the poem The "Sirdar" (serdar, military leader) he was same age as Konstantin Miladinov. Grigor was born in 1830 in Ohrid. One time his teacher was Dimitrija Miladinov for whom he had the best words. When he understood what type of danger the Greek schools and the Greek priests were for the Macedonian people, Grigor Prlicev together with his fellow-countrymen began to struggle against the Greek influence in Macedonia. He was making an effort to introduce the Macedonian language in their schools.
He once started studying medicine in Athens, but he did not like it so he began to write poems. In 1861 Grigor Prlicev won the first prize for his poem, and was awarded a laurel wreath for the poem The "Sirdar". This competition was held in Greece, and shocked the country because out of all the poets, an outsider and Macedonian had won the prize. He became a well known poet after that, then he wrote another poem "Skenderbeg", and his autobiography from which today we gather information about the time and situation in Ohrid in the last century. Grigor Prlicev died in Ohrid in 1893.
In his poem The "Sirdar", he delineates in epic form the difficult position of the Macedonian's, and their struggle against the Turks taking as a basic motive the Macedonian folk song about Kuzman Kapitan.

The following selection is from the opening verses of his poem

The "Sirdar"

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