Dimitar Nestorov (1890-1968)


Adopted from the online Encyclopedia of the cultural heritage of Struga.

Dr Stojan Kovacheski

      Born in Struga in 1890, Nestorov studied in Struga and Bitola. During the Balkan Wars he volunteered, going to study medicine in Switzerland. He graduated in 1918. After graduation, he stayed in Switzerland, intensely engaged in the activities of the Macedonian intelligentsia. He tried to influence international forums in Europe in order to solve the Macedonian question justly. He affirmed the rights of Macedonians to determine their destiny. He is author of the Macedonian manifesto of 1918 calling for the rebirth of a federated Macedonia under the auspices of the League of Nations. He came to Struga in 1920 and later began working in Bitola.

      He was actively involved in the liberation movement during World War Two, for which he was jailed in Bulgaria. He was elected vice-president of the Presidium of ASNOM. In 1946 he became a minister in the Yugoslav government, and became minister of health. He was partly responsible for the opening of medical faculties in Skopje and Sarajevo. From 1948-1951, he was president of the Council of the Republic of Macedonia. He died in 1968. Nestorov brought the first football to Struga in the summer of 1911.