Ivan Tocko

Ivan Tocko (1914-1973) was a storyteller, newspaper reporter and playwright. Born in Ohrid he was educated in Ohrid and Bitola, completed the Faculty of Law in Belgrade and the Academy of Performing Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria. He participated in the National Liberation War in Macedonia, worked as a newspaper reporter in "New Macedonia", in Radio Skopje, he was also the Editor of the Macedonian Emigrants Association's magazine "Macedonia". In 1947 one of the 7 foundation members of the Macedonian Writers Association. 14 separate books were published of his short stories, miniatures and brief short stories, some in few editions, 2 books of plays and a Tourist Guide - MAKEDONIJA with co-author Aleksandar Mincev, published in 1956 in Croatian, in 1961 in English, and entitled MAKEDONIJA-JUGOSLAVIJA in 1956 in Serbo-Croatian. He wrote in Macedonian but his stories were translated into other languages and the languages of the peoples of Yugoslavia. Apart from his books his short stories were published in many anthologies and joint collections with other writers. As a pre and post-Second World War writer, Ivan Tocko wrote in a language that formed the basis of the present contemporary standardised Macedonian. Thus his writing is part of Macedonian literary history.