Apostolski was born Mihail Mitev Apostolov[5] in Novo Selo, in the Kosovo vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia), in a Bulgarian Exarchist family to Mite Apostolov and Vasa Apostolova.[1][4] He attended primary and secondary school in Štip. In 1927, he graduated from the Military Academy in Belgrade, capital of Kingdom of Yugoslavia. In 1933, he graduated from the High Military Academy, and in 1938 he graduated from the Commanding Academy as a major.
During World War II
During the invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, he was a commander of the alpine units of the Royal Yugoslav Army in Ljubljana.[6] According to another report, he was a general staff officer in charge of the railway transport.[7] At that time he was in Belgrade.[8] After the capitulation of Yugoslavia and the subsequent occupation of Vardar Macedonia, Apostolski returned to Ljubljana, where was captured by the Italian army and was taken to the camp Vestone. Shortly after, his father, a First World War Bulgarian army veteran, petitioned the BulgarianMinister of War to help release Apostolski.[9]
After the Second World War Apostolski became one of the military leaders of the new Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). After the end of his active military service, he began intensively dealing with the history of the Macedonian nation. From 1965 to 1970, he was the head of the Institute of National History in Skopje, SR Macedonia. He was accused of systematically falsifying history and in the use of hate speech against Bulgaria and the Bulgarian people.[16] On that occasion Apostolski became famous among Bulgarian historians with his phrase: "I have no evidence, but I claim it".[17] He was actively involved in the formation of the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts, of which he was member of since its creation. He was also its president from 1976 to 1983.[1] He was also a member of:
^ abcdefМакедонска енциклопедија, том 1 (in Macedonian). Skopje: Македонска академија на науките и уметностите. 2009. pp. 76–77. ISBN9786082030234.
^Bulgarian Archives State Agency, Personalities; № 8: Mihail Mitev Apostolov. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2012-11-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Бјелајац, Миле; Трифуновић, Предраг (1997). Између војске и политике. Београд, Крушевац: Институт за новију историју Србије, Народни музеј Крушевац. ISBN86-7005-020-X.
^ abcNarodni heroji Jugoslavije, Mladost, Beograd 1975.
^Michev, Dobrin (2003). The Liberation struggles after the First World War, 1919-1944. Macedonian Scientific Institute, Historical Institute (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences). p. 430. ISBN9548187612.
^Kiro Gligorov, Macedonia is Everything we Have, Izdavacki centar TRI, 2001, Skopje (in Macedonian) Киро Глигоров, Македонија е сѐ што имаме, Издавачки центар ТРИ, 2001, Скопје.
^According to a document signed by the Chief of the General Staff of the Bulgarian Army, General Konstantin Lukash; ДВИА ф. 20, оп. 3, а.е. 60, л. 534 София, 15 декември 1941 г.
^Блаже Миневски, Дража Михајловиќ: Вие Македонците сте целосно онеправдани. Од НМ - 12:19 06.08.2021.
^ abDimitar Bechev, Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Macedonia, Volume 68 of Historical Dictionaries of Europe, Scarecrow Press, 2009, ISBN0810862956, p. 16.
^Михов, Милен Василев, Гребенаров, Александър Георгиев, (2016) Освобождението на българи от Вардарска Македония - военнопленници от бившата югославска армия през Втората световна война. Българска академия на науките, стр. 97, ISBN9789542903253.
^Властите в Щип гарантират за българския произход на Михайло Апостолски. Документът е публикуван в „Освобождението на българи от Вардарска Македония – военнопленници от бившата югославска армия през Втората световна война”, С., 2016, Македонски научен институт, 11/07/2016 г.