Nikola Postolov

Nikola Postolov (19 Dec 1986 - 16 Jan 2009) was a Macedonian competitive programmer from Stip, recognized from primary school as the best in his generation. He competed at the International Olympiad in Informatics four times (2002-2005), winning a bronze medal at IOI 2003 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and also medalled at the Balkan Olympiad in Informatics. He studied Informatics and Computer Engineering at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (FEEIT), Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, with a perfect 10.00/10.00 GPA, and was among the few Macedonians to intern at Google. He died on 16 Jan 2009, months before his anticipated June 2009 graduation.

Notes4

• Died 16 Jan 2009 at age 22, months before his anticipated June 2009 FEEIT graduation; commemorated by MENDO (Macedonian informatics community) and a YouTube tribute.Jan 16, 2009
• At his death he was a 4th-year FEEIT student, eulogized on the Kajgana forum as 'the best and most promising member' of the Macedonian IT scene; he died the morning of 16 Jan 2009 after a multi-day coma.Jan 16, 2009
• Among the few people from Macedonia at Google (as an intern), which by 2009 marked him as likely to have a strong career abroad before his death at 22 cut it short.
• Won silver at the National Macedonian Olympiad, which earned him the IOI 2003 spot where he took bronze - the medal that made his name in Macedonian informatics.2003
• Won bronze at BOI 2005 on Rhodes (3-8 Sept 2005) with 300 points among 28 contestants, after earlier bronze at BOI 2004 in Plovdiv - a run of BOI podium finishes alongside his IOI bronze.Sep 2005
• Represented FEEIT Skopje at Elektrijada and ACM competitions, ranking the faculty highly internationally, and competed online in Code Fu (Netcetera) and TopCoder.
• Cited in the scholarly review 'Macedonian Experience, Needs, Challenges' (Janceski, Olympiads in Informatics, 2007) as part of Macedonia's early informatics success in 2003-2005.2007
• A universal talent beyond programming: he gave his first solo accordion concert in primary school and later played Mozart and other classical pieces before audiences, before shifting to computers.
• His father, Stefce Postolov, is the source of the biography describing his childhood musical talent and early recognition.
• Full name in Cyrillic: Никола Постолов, per a memorial thread on the Kajgana forum.Jan 2009