Kiro Gligorov

Kiro Gligorov (born May 3, 1917) was the first president of the Republic of Macedonia, serving for two terms from 1990 to November 19 1999. He tried to keep his country out of the wars and conflicts which plagued the nations around him, a task made difficult by disputes with Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Greece, all of whom had ethnic minorities in the country. On October 4, 1995, he was the victim of an assassination attempt and was incapacitated until 1996, and Stojan Andov was acting president.

The election for Gligorov's successor took place only a few days before the end of his term, and because of disputed results the winner, Boris Trajkovski, did not take office until the following month.

Here is a link to a proper biographical article about Gligorov until someone writes a decent one here.