Gligorov, Kiro

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Kiro Gligorov (kēr´ō glēgō´rôf), 1917–2012, Macedonian political leader, b. Štip, Serbia (now in Macedonia), grad. Univ. of Belgrade Law School (1938). He fought with Yugoslavia's communist partisans during World War II and later held a number of offices in the Yugoslav government. In Jan., 1991, he became president of Macedonia while it was still a Yugoslav republic and led it through the referendum that established Macedonia as an independent nation; it was the only Yugoslav republic to secede peacefully. Gligorov was president of Macedonia through two terms, serving until Nov., 1999. He was severely injured in an assassination attempt in 1995.