States presidents and one Canadian prime minister were hired to lobby foreign governments, as well as the European Community and the United Nations, to recognise the Republic of Macedonia as a sovereign and independent state. At the same time, Bitove formed the first World Macedonian Congress, an ultranationalist organisation created to promote the interests of the Republic of Macedonia and the ethnic Macedonians throughout the world. John Bitove provided significant financial resources to the United Macedonian Diaspora. He also supported and promoted the United Macedonia, a concept among ethnic Macedonian nationalists that aims to unify the transnational region of Macedonia into a single state with the Greek city of Thessaloniki as its capital. Personal life He was married to Dotsa and had five children – Vonna, Tom, Nick, John and Jordan. He died in Toronto in July 2015. References Businesspeople from Toronto Canadian people of Macedonian descent Members of the Order of Canada 1928 births 2015 deaths Canadian food industry businesspeople Macedonian nationalists