PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA DR GJORGE IVANOV

President Gjorge Ivanov was born on 2 May 1960 in Valandovo, a town in the South-East of Republic of Macedonia. After completing his elementary and high school education in Valandovo, he commenced studies in Law at the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje.

While at University Gjorge Ivanov became politically active in liberal and reformist-oriented youth organizations. In 1988, his career with the national broadcaster “Macedonian Television” begins, where he was ultimately promoted to the position of Editor. He was also active in the movement to reform the political system, which aimed to promote ideas such as political plurality and the free market economy. In 1995, Gjorge Ivanov returned the University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius, earning a Master’s Degree in Political Science with a thesis entitled: “Civil Society - New Contradictions of an Old Debate.” During his PhD research he focused on building democracies in divided societies and successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled “Democracy in Divided Societies: the Case of Macedonia.”

At the Law Faculty, a long-time centre of Macedonian political life, Professor Ivanov taught political theory and political philosophy to his students, introducing new teaching methods which helped open Macedonian academia to Western universities through contemporary literature and magazines. In 1999 he was a Visiting Professor to the South-East Europe Programme at the University of Athens, Greece. Knowing that opening the Republic of Macedonia to the West will require the efforts of upcoming generations, he also became active in EU’s TEMPUS Programme for the Republic of Macedonia, introducing a reformed curricula and English language Master Programmes.

Gjorge Ivanov is a leading expert on civil society, being the first to introduce its systematic research in Macedonian academia. He has been a consultant to leading think-tanks and researchers. Generations of leaders have passed his training in political management. Professor Ivanov is the co-founder of the first Macedonian political science journal “Political Opinion”, and the founder and Honorary President of the Macedonian Political Science Association. He is also one of the founders of the Institute for Democracy, Solidarity and Civil Society, a renowned Macedonian think-tank which has helped shape the political landscape in Macedonia. While never a party member, he became active in helping fashion the policy of the reformist VMRO-DPMNE party, which supported his presidential nomination in 2009. He won the elections with a distinctive majority.

During his Presidential mandate, Professor Gjorge Ivanov has received numerous invitations to give lectures at renowned universities in the European centers. In October 2009, he was awarded the title Doctor Honoris Causa at the TOBB University of Economics and Technology, one of the most prominent private universities in Turkey, whereas he talked on the topic “The Millet System – Forgotten History or Recipe for the Future”. The title Doctor Honoris Causa was for the second time awarded to President Ivanov by the Rector of the Istanbul University in March 2011. On this occasion Professor Gjorge Ivanov held a lecture on the theme “The Megapolis as a Societal Management Model of the 21st Century”. The last awarded title Doctor Honoris Causa, President Ivanov received in Bucharest, Romania, at the Christian University “Dimitrie Cantemir” in October 2011. In September 2011, President Ivanov was awarded the highest Order of the St. Lazarus Order from Jerusalem. 

President Ivanov is married and has one child.