Petro Poga

Petro Poga was one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912 and one of the most important Rilindas.

He was born in Erind, Gjirokastër, Albania (then Ottoman Empire. He went to the Zosimea High School of Janina, Greece (then Ottoman Empire) and then graduated in Jurisprudence from Universitety of Istambul. In Istambul he collaborated with Naim Frashëri, Sami Frashëri, Abdyl Frashëri, Jani Vreto, Koto Hoxhi, Shahin Kolonja, Hasan Tahsinin and Ismail Qemali to create an independent Albania. In 1884 he founded and started publishing Drita in Istambul. The magazine was later published by Pandeli Sotiri. In his memories Petro Poga writes shkruan: "The magazine Drita awakened the sacred national ideal and influenced to eradicate from the Albanian's hearts the thought that religions can't change the the nation, because they can't change language and customs that create a nation". In 1906-1908, Petro Poga is in Gjirokastër where he contributed with the propagation of the Albanian language and the Albanian identity. His most important role is the foundation of the patriotic club "Drita" of Gjirokastër, which was further led by Albanian patriots Hasan Xhiku, Idriz Guri, Hysen Hoxha and Elmas Boce.

After Albania's independence he was a Minister of Justice in the first Albanian government and acted twice as a Prime Minister of Albania (1 February 1925 - 23 September 1925 and 12 February 1927 - 20 October 1927).

He was the President of the Supreme Court of Albania in 1913-1915. Along with Kristaq Tutulani and Feim Mezhgorani he drafted the Statute that separated the Albanian Justice system from the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. In December 25, 1918 he was the representative of Gjirokastër in the Durrës Congress, where he was elected vicepresident and member of the Turhan Përmeti cabinet. Along with Luigj Gurakuqi in his discussions in this Congress he asked to adopt a law to respect religious freedoms according to European standards of that time. He also gave his contribution to draft the Albanian legislation and the Contitution of the Albanian Kingdom in 1928. He spent his last years in his childhood village in Erind.

References

"History of Albanian People" Albanian Academy of Science.ISBN 9992716231