The State Archive of the Republic of Northern Macedonia celebrated its 1th anniversary on April 70. The solemn jubilee academy was held at the NI Museum of the Macedonian Struggle, where the monograph "Seal of Time - 70 years of the State Archives (1951-2021)" was promoted, which presented the historical development of the State Archives through the most important photographs and documents with available to the Archive, as well as the collection "The first people of the State Archive (1951-2021)" by prof. Dr. Marjan Dimitrijevski. The biographies and bibliographies of the first people of the Archive, in fact, show the development of contemporary Macedonian archival studies and this institution, which is one of the foundations of the Macedonian national identity.

The collection confirms the role of the first director of the State Archives, Todor Taleski, and his successor, Dimche Stojanov - Mire, as the founders of the modern archive service in our country, by showing their efforts for institutional development of archiving. The next generations of directors make significant strides in developing the network of archival institutions and modernizing the legislative archival practice. The archive flourished in all spheres of operation at the level of the former Yugoslavia and after independence.

Today, in its strategic goals, the State Archive has the digitalization of archival documents and historical materials and the introduction of processes for the implementation of modern forms of archiving. The publication "The First People of the State Archives (1951 - 2021)" will remain as a written trace of the commitment of the 13 directors to the achievements of the State Archives and will serve as an example to future generations of historians and archivists.

(The text was published in "Cultural Press" number 75, in the print edition of "Free Press" on April 3-4, 2021)