Kočo Racin

Kosta Apostolov Solev (Macedonian: Коста Апостолов Солев), primarily known as poet Kočo Racin (Macedonian: Koчо Рацин) (22 December 1908 – 13 June 1943), was a Macedonian partisan and author who is considered a founder of modern Macedonian literature. His poem collection White Dawns (Zagreb, 1939) is one of the most important masterpieces in Macedonian modern literature. Racin wrote in prose too and created some significant works with themes from history, philosophy, and literary critique.

Biography

Early life

Kočo (Kosta Solev) Racin was born in 1908 in Veles, in the Kosovo Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Republic of Macedonia). He was raised in a very poor family. His father, Apostol was a potter who earned just enough to feed his family, and he could not support Racin financially in his education. Racin finished just one year in the local high school at the age of thirteen, and then worked in his father's pottery workshop.

Campaigner in the Communist movement

In 1924 he took part in KPJ, and in a short time, he positioned himself as one of the most-promising young members of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Macedonia. In 1926, Racin became a member of the local Committee of KPJ in Veles, and in November 1928, he participated in the Fourth Congress of KPJ in Dresden as the only delegate from Macedonia. After returning to Yugoslavia he was arrested, but three months later he was freed because of insufficient evidence. In April 1929 he went into army service in Požarevac.