Ljube Milenkovski was born on July 5, 1937, in the village of Sopot, in the municipality of Sveti Nikole. He completed his primary education in the village of Gorobinci, in the Sveti Nikole region, and immediately afterwards enrolled in the Teacher Training School “Goce Delčev” in Štip. As a child, he had a strong and undisguised desire to become a teacher. He completed the first and second grades at the teacher training school in Štip with excellent results, and the third, fourth, and fifth grades at the Teacher Training School “Nikola Karev” in Skopje, graduating in 1958 with excellent success.
Immediately after graduation, from September 1958, he worked as a teacher for six years in two schools in the Tetovo region, while his final year was spent teaching in his native village of Sopot. With enriched and deepened methodological-didactic and pedagogical-psychological knowledge and experience, in the academic year 1965/66 he enrolled as a full-time student in the History–Geography program at the Pedagogical Academy “Kliment Ohridski” in Skopje. Due to his balanced approach in discussions, tactfulness, and support for matters of student interest, Milenkovski was soon elected President of the Student Union (SSJ).
In addition to this role, he was also a member of about ten other commissions and committees within the Student Union, and he carried out all these responsibilities very responsibly and successfully. He completed the Pedagogical Academy in three semesters with an average grade of 9.50. Because of his excellent performance, he was awarded a monetary prize and two volumes of books in the fields of history and geography by the Teaching and Scientific Council.
After graduating, he immediately began working at Primary School “Vera Ciriviri Trena” in Skopje as a teacher of history and geography. However, his desire for scientific work was stronger than remaining a teacher for the rest of his life. With this goal, he enrolled as a part-time student at the Department of Geography at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje. He completed the required examinations in regular time in less than two years, graduating in 1969 with an average grade of 8.94. In 1975, he began working at the Republic Institute for Education as an independent pedagogical advisor for geography teaching.
In the academic year 1971/72, he became a postgraduate student at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Belgrade, in the geography program. He completed the required examinations with an average grade of 8.57, and soon successfully defended his master’s thesis titled “Spa Tourism in SR Macedonia.” Less than a year after obtaining his master’s degree, on January 19, 1983, at the Geography Faculty of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation titled “Socio-geographical and Agrarian Characteristics of the Gevgelija–Valandovo Valley”, obtaining the scientific degree Doctor of Geographical Sciences.
Prof. Dr. Ljube Milenkovski was first elected university professor on October 1, 1975, at the Pedagogical Academy “Kliment Ohridski” in Skopje, and from 1981 to March 30, 1985 he was also appointed Doctor of the Pedagogical Academy. From March 30, 1985 until 1993, he worked at the Institute of Geography at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje as a professor of geography. In the period from October 1, 1989 to July 8, 1993, Prof. Dr. Ljube Milenkovski also served as Head of the Seismological Observatory at the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics in Skopje.
A significant part of his scientific research activity was focused on agrarian geography and the methodology of teaching geography. He was also actively involved in the work of the Macedonian Geographical Society until his death in 1993.
Professor Milenkovski also left a notable mark in the field of textbook writing. For primary school students, he authored three textbooks for the 5th, 7th, and 8th grades, and for secondary school students he wrote six textbooks.