Šopov, Aco

Born Dec. 20, 1923, in Štip. Macedonian poet, translator, and state and public figure. Member of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1967); corresponding member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (1968).

Špov served in the National Liberation War of 1941–45 in Yugoslavia. He graduated from the philosophy department of the University in Skopje and the Higher Political School in Belgrade. He was president of the Translators’ Union and the Writers’ Union of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia in the 1950’s and 1960’s, and of the Writers’ Union of Yugoslavia from 1965 to 1969. From 1970 to 1977 he was a diplomat.

Špov began his literary career during the partisan years; his first published work was Verses (1944). In 1950 he published In the Grammos Mountains and With Our Own Hands, which both dealt with the antifascist and nationalist struggle and the building of a new Macedonia. The collections of lyric poems Verses on Suffering and Joy (1952), Imagination (1963), and The Birth of the Word (1966) deal with “eternal” themes, poetic creativity, and moral self-awareness. Another of his collections is Song of the Black Woman (1976).

Špov experiments with versification and the lexicon. His works are distinguished by the freshness of their poetic language and by their melodic harmony. Špov also translates from Russian and other European languages.

Špov was awarded the Prize of the Antifascist veche of the National Liberation of Yugoslavia in 1970.