Works of Vangel Dereban

Vangel Dereban was born in Struga in 1920. Vangel was filigree apprentice from an early age. Although a great connoisseur of the craft, Vangel Dereban had a painstaking journey to a master’s degree. He is the sixth generation of filigree masters of the Dereban family. Derebanovci have been dealing with filigree for several centuries, and Vangel Dereban has a written document for that dating from 1819.

Vangel Dereban celebrated the Macedonian filigree and jewelry worn by prominent world figures, including Danish Princess Margaret II and former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. The silver butterfly known for the TV spot “Buy Macedonian products” which is kept in the National Museum of Macedonia was made by his father Aleksandar.

National symbols are embedded in Deraban’s filigree and the primordial veins of the Macedonian ancient civilization pulsate in it. He is a synonym for the Macedonian filigree and in his shop breathe the Ohrid and Macedonian blacksmithing from Turkish times until today.

“Dereban’s works with their top filigree mastery reflect the specificity of the Macedonian culture and tradition”,

Vangel Dereban is the winner of the highest municipal award, the St. Clement Award. He is also the author of two books “Bitola, the city of my youth” and “Macedonian jewelry”.

Vangel Dereban died at the age of 93 on September 10, 2013 in Ohrid.

In 2021, on the 101st birthday of Vangel Dereban, his shop in the old bazaar in Ohrid will be renovated, where the first school for filigree in Ohrid will open, and the Museum of Vangel Dereban where all the objects that are family heritage of Dereban family, as well as his personal jewelry and various silverware.