President Gordana Siljanovska Davkova addressed the XXVII “Ivo Puhan” Oratory Evening, which was held at the Faculty of Law “Iustinianus Primus” in Skopje, under her patronage.
Ten young orators addressed this year’s oratory evening, which is traditionally held in honor of Professor Ivo Puhan.
Distinguished Dean,
Respected Vice-Deans,
Dear Guests,
Dear Students,
It is my honor to be the patron of a very important event. I have always believed that oratory is an art. It is no coincidence that this wonderful event is named after Professor Puhan. The professor who gave me the highest grade of knowledge. The professor who was a top speaker. The professor who was not only a lawyer, but also had a degree in theology in Padua. You can imagine what it meant to have such a professor teaching you. I assume that the best of Croatia came here. What brought him here? Love. People come to us mostly for love, and he stayed here because of Gordana. I remember that well. I see laureates among you in the past years.
What do I think is important for oratory? The harmony between thought, word and body. I am not the only one saying this. One of the most famous Roman orators, Cicero, says that a good speaker is one who has a thought, whose speech has substance, and also whose speech has passionate messages that keep listeners interested. For those who think that they are not good speakers, one of the most famous ancient speakers, Demosthenes, had a speech defect. That is known. But with arguments, with conviction, he overcame it. I have already said about Cicero, but I want to say that how important speech is can also be seen from some other famous speakers. For example, Caesar was not only an outstanding military leader, but he was also an outstanding speaker. Precise, clear, I assume that his thought was in harmony with his mind and character. There are many other speakers throughout history that I have admired, and I highly recommend that famous book, “Speeches that Have Influenced Humanity,” which begins with the speech of Jesus Christ, the speech of Muhammad, and then there are the top speakers. Can we forget, for example, the oratory of Martin Luther King? No. Churchill was also a great speaker, although he was not talented at all. He showed through effort, as he said – I was not born a speaker, but by preparing, practicing, and believing in what I was saying, I became a good speaker. Kennedy was also a top speaker, and Obama was and still is a top speaker.
I also had the opportunity to listen to lectures at this faculty. I have never been able to and will never forget the voice of Professor Puhan. He had incredible power, both with his thoughts and with his speech. It was not forbidden then, and I must say, he smoked a cigar. I will never forget what kind of person he was. Other colleagues of mine, both male and female, were top speakers, I remember them, but I also remember a multitude of students who shone with their speeches. The critics were the best. That is undeniable. Sometimes our students had extraordinary competition from outsiders. I will not forget representatives from the Faculty of Economics, from the Faculty of Medicine, who choose the best in their field. To prove that it is nice to speak in Macedonian, I will tell you a story from my life. Two stories, I may have told them. One in Slovenia, where the best students from primary schools were taken. Each republic had its own play, its own event. We had one too. I was the leader of our group. A director from the Slovenian television said that the central celebration of Kocevje would be held and that I would be the moderator. I was shocked. I asked what was the reason for that, was it to avoid someone from Serbia to host it? The answer was no, the language is beautiful, melodic and you seem to believe what you are saying. You will not believe me, but I know by heart what I said then when I was 14. I will never forget how incredible it was that they chose me. The second time, in the Council of Europe, I was with a colleague and we were talking too fast about what we were going to do as we were too excited. A gentleman stopped us and said: “Excuse me, what language do you speak?” I said Macedonian. I have not heard, he says, but I am chairing the World Conference on Philology today and I think I know what a beautiful language is. Well, what is it, I asked, I thought Italian was beautiful. You, he said, when you speak it is as if you are singing. I got confused, I said, I must have gotten carried away by the melody, so I was not aware of it. Why do you say that? I repeated the same thing. It is the rhythm, the beat, the singability, you are just not aware of it.
I expect to see all of this tonight. I wish those who will be judging you well, I heard that they have introduced innovation today. I have repeatedly suggested that the audience judge, but it never happened. It does not matter. I think this is original, that the colleagues from abroad should have the main word. I expect a knightly contest and, of course, may the best be the winners!
Thank you!
