, an activist of the association. The founders of the association had all formerly been members of the
Secret Macedonian Committee (SMC). SMC was founded by Slavic Macedonian expatriate students in
Sofia,
Principality of Bulgaria, but it was quickly uncovered by the Bulgarian authorities and disbanded. Four of its members left Bulgaria, and went to
Belgrade,
Kingdom of Serbia, to support Serbian policy. Serbia tried to promote
Macedonism as a stage towards the
Serbianisation of the Macedonian Slavs. At the same meeting, a decision to create the
Saint Sava Society was taken. Novaković became the Serbian ambassador in Constantinople, where he met with two former SMC members,
Kosta Grupčević and
Naum Evrović, having established the association for the realisation of the Serbian cause. They were partially successful in imposing strong
Serbian linguistic influence on Macedonian. Serbian schools were opened in the
region of Macedonia, and books were printed in the Macedonian dialect with Serbian linguistic influence. The schools attempted to develop a middle road between Serbian and Bulgarian by teaching a combination of Serbian and Macedonian. The association provided scholarships for people who identified themselves as Serbo-Macedonians and conducted propaganda among Macedonian Slavs in Serbia. Due to its success, the association's executive body became part of the
Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. == Programme ==