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Alex was born at 141 ½ Niagara Street, one of the poorest
areas in Toronto, on July 30th, 1931. His mother gave birth to him
on the linoleum floor of their family home without the aid of a
doctor or a midwife. The Gigeroff family was poor and for some time
had to live near the city abattoir which was located behind their
house and the city incinerator located around the corner. Alex’s
father Kire was born in Oshchima and arrived at the U.S. Ellis Island
on the SS Lusitania on June 3, l9l0. Kire traveled under the name
Kire Naumoff and came to Toronto Canada as an immigrant worker for
a few years. He had made several earlier trips to the U.S. returning
each time to give his saved dollars to his father. Four years later,
on April 11, 1914, Kire arrived in Saint John, Canada where he assumed
the name Kire Gigeroff. Kire traveled with a Turkish Passport and
"Gigeroff" was an immigrant's assigned name from "Gigerovsti"
the paranom of the family name in Oshchima. Alex’s mother,
Velika, was born in Zhelevo (birth date unknown) around Velivden
(Easter) hence her name Velika. She left Zhelevo and arrived on
the SS ARABIC in Halifax, Canada on July 10, l925. Velika is from
the “Krstovtsi” family which was later Hellenized to
“Kertsos”. Velika kept her old last name Kostandin as
it was her grandfather’s name.
Being born to Macedonian parents who spoke no other language, Alex’s
first language was Macedonian, a dialect spoken in the Lerin and
Bitola regions. Having no formal education in the Macedonian language,
people spoke dialects of the Macedonian language passed on orally
from generation to generation, naturally evolving with time.Alex
grew up on Niagara Street and at age ten moved to Gillespie Avenue
in the Junction District of West Toronto. He lived there until age
twenty-eight while getting his high school and University Education.
During this time he also spent a year in Europe. Alex earned his
BA from Victoria College, University of Toronto in 1952; LLB. at
the School of Law, University of Toronto in l955; Barrister/Solicitor
at Osgoode Hall Law School in 1958; LL.M. (Master of Law) at the
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law in 1966; Ph.D., (Criminology)
in the London School of Economics, University of London in 1973.
He then worked as Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine,
Department of Psychiatry, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, University
of Toronto (non-medical appointment) between 1971 and 1975.
In 1969 Alex received the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, Research
Fund Award and in 1970 he was nominated for the Prix Denis Carroll,
International Society of Criminology, in Madrid, Spain. Alex has
also published a book by the University of Toronto Press and has
over thirty published academic and research papers to his credit.Being
multi-talented, Alex also has a passion for the arts. He studied
sculpture and portrait painting and taught art at the Secondary
Modern School in London for a year. He was Head of the Picture Hanging
Committee in Hart House at the University of Toronto and participated
in Amateur Theatre. He was elected President of the Youth Association
at the STs. Cyril and Methody Church in Toronto and later became
President of the Yarmouth Art Society, and Yarmouth Arts Regional
Centre, in Nova Scotia. Restless with a good conscience, Alex could
not rest even as an adult and family man so he continued to contribute
and helped design and build the Art Centre in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.
He painted, and designed sets for Musical Comedies and Drama including
writing and performing in ORO
MAKEDONSKO... He painted some of the murals in the Canadian
Macedonian Place and some for public streets. He painted six murals
for the Primary Schools in Yarmouth County. He was a member and
became a Board Member of the Visual Arts program in Nova Scotia.
Alex also participated in the Art as Therapy Program in the Mental
Health Unit in Yarmouth Hospital. He is the author/playwright for
“What's Around the Corner?” a children's play about
bullying in schools. His latest project is a play, which I had the
pleasure of reading and hearing on a CD with Alex’s own voice,
called “STREDNI IGRACH” written and spoken in Aegean
Macedonian, in the very same language Alex learned from his mother.
Now tell me who says Oshchimians aren’t accomplished? Actually
Alex’s contributions don’t stop there. As educator and
academic he has helped reform the Criminal Laws of Canada with respect
to Probation and some of the Sex Offences so that millions are living
freer lives and others are better protected. Born of an illiterate
mother and self-educated father, Alex used his education for the
betterment of Canada and "paid back" to the country that
gave us freedom and the chance of an education. Alex says, “I
feel enormously privileged because probably for the first time in
my family in over 500 years, one of us got the chance to learn how
to read and write! I had to put that to good purpose. I feel blessed
that I was born into an incredible Macedonian Heritage and history.
I feel deeply rooted, like a native mountain peasant sprung free.
Doubly blessed with my education, coupled with my wide ranging curiosity,
I've been able to span some science, law, philosophy, literature,
all of the arts from painting, poetry, music and drama. I am a humanist,
with a Macedonian mountain peasant soul informing and supporting
an educated intellect. Hey, I'm a piece of transplanted Zdravets
(wild geranium) that has spread and blossomed in new soil.
(Source: Oshchima: My
little Rock By Risto Stefov)
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