[5] In 1905 he began publishing predominantly articles, written from a Bulgarian nationalist perspective in the IMARO-affiliated press.

According to historian Ivo Banac, Misirkov viewed both himself and the Slavs of Macedonia as Bulgarians, and espoused pan-Bulgarian patriotism in a larger Balkan context.

Krste Petkov Misirkov was born on 18 November 1874 in the village of Postol in the Salonica vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day Pella, Greece).

Soon after he realized that the promotion of pro-Serbian ideas and propaganda was the main goal of the education provided by the Society of St.

[9] Misirkov again went to Serbia to continue his education, but without any success as he was rejected by the Society of St. Sava, most likely for his part in the protests conducted against it.

Since he was willing to get higher education, he was forced, by a chain of events, to enroll in a theological school for teachers.

Misirkov was sent to Šabac, where he finished his fourth secondary education course, but this time in the local gymnasium, which happened to be his last course.

[12] In both Serbia and Bulgaria, Misirkov and his friend were treated as Serbs or Bulgarians[9][12] in order to be accepted in the educational system.

"[16] Misirkov carried out here his first scholarly lecture on the ethnography and history of the Balkan Peninsula before the members of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society.

The main objective of the circle was the political autonomy of the Macedonia and Thrace, declared by IMRO, and implemented and guaranteed by the Great Powers.

In a letter sent to the President of the Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople Committee on 28 November of the same year, the founders of the circle stated that, "there's no Bulgarian who is not interested in the situation and fate of that part of our homeland, which continue to groan under the yoke of the tyrant."

Facing financial obstacles to continue his postgraduate education, he accepted the proposal of the Bulgarian Exarchate to be appointed teacher in one of the high schools in Bitola.

As a result, he was persecuted by IMRO, and it is believed that its members destroyed a sizable amount of copies of his book.

[9] On 18 April 1907, Misirkov began to cooperate with the Sofia magazine "Macedonian-Adrianople Review", edited by Nikola Naumov, which was de facto organ of the IMRO.

On 24 April 1909, in Odessa, Misirkov printed his work about the South Slavic epic legends on Krali Marko.

In 1913 after the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, Misirkov went back to Russia, where he worked as a teacher in the Bulgarian language schools in Odessa.

While working as a teacher in Chișinău, Misirkov sent а letter to the Bulgarian academic Aleksandar Teodorov-Balan with a request to be assigned as a professor at Sofia University.

After the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Bessarabia became a democratic republic, and he was elected a member of the local parliament Sfatul Țării as a representative of the Bulgarian minority.

After being expelled by the Romanian authorities, Misirkov returned to Sofia at the end of 1918, where he spent one year as a head of the Historical Department of the National Museum of Ethnography.

[20][27] During this period (but before 1923), IMRO marked Misirkov as harmful to its cause and supposedly considering his assassination, but reconsidered after he met with a representative of the organization.

[44] Misirkov pointed there, that the population in Pomoravlje is autochthonous and Bulgarian by origin, excluding any later migrations during the Ottoman rule from Bulgaria.

[22] In Bulgaria, Misirkov is regarded as a controversial educator with scientific contribution to Bulgarian dialectology and ethnography.

[54] At that time, Novaković was a prominent proponent of the Macedonism, thereby promoting Serbian interests in the region of Macedonia.

[55] Afterwards Misirkov met several times with him and Novaković's diplomatic activity in St. Petersburg played significant role for the foundation of the Macedonian Scientific and Literary Society.

[citation needed] According to Bulgarian observers, after the breakup of Yugoslavia, polemics have also arisen in the Republic of Macedonia about the identity of Misirkov.

[63] In his honor, many books and scientific works have been published and the Institute for Macedonian language "Krste Misirkov" is named after him.

[64] There is a debate about Misirkov's ethnicity in North Macedonia issued by Dr. Rastislav Terzioski, who brought to light memos from Russian archives which clearly stated his pro-Bulgarian positions.

[66] On the other hand, according to Vlado Popovski, Misirkov's usage of the term "Macedonian Bulgarian" was only a tactic as a consequence of the Balkan wars and the Bucharest Agreement.