Luigj Gurakuqi

Luigj Gurakuqi in the 1920s

Luigj Gurakuqi (born February 19, 1879 in Shkodra , † March 2, 1925 in Bari , Italy) was an Albanian writer and politician.

Professional career

Gurakuqi attended a Catholic school in Shkodra and then studied in Naples , among others with Jeronim de Rada . In 1899 he joined the “Bashkimi” language association founded by Catholic priests and published under the pseudonyms “Cakin Shkodra” and “Lekë Gruda” in various Albanian magazines. At the Monastir Congress in 1908 he participated in the standardization of the Latin Albanian alphabet . In November 1912, together with Ismail Qemali , he chaired an Albanian national conference in Bucharest which, given the conquest of former Turkish territory by Greece, Serbia and Montenegro in the First Balkan War, aimed at the immediate proclamation of an Albanian state. On November 28, 1912, a national congress led by Ismail Qemali and Luigj Gurakuqi in Vlora - the only major city that was not occupied by foreign troops - proclaimed Albanian independence.

In the first government of Albania, which only controlled a territory of about 4,000 km² between Vlora and Elbasan , Gurakuqi became Minister of Education. When this government was removed from office by the Control Commission of the Great Powers set up in the Treaty of London and replaced by a "central administration", he was given the post of "Director of Education", which he retained for only two months: To the following governments Prince Wilhelm , who only controlled small areas of the country, was not involved. The Austrians, who occupied northern Albania in 1915 and promoted the establishment of Albanian schools there, appointed him "Director of Education" in their "Civil Administrative Council" based in Shkodra. In 1917 he founded the Albanian National Library in Shkodra. After the Austrians withdrew, he held the same post in the Përmeti government , which was supported by the Italians and resided in Durrës . In April 1919 he became a delegate of this government at the Paris Peace Conference as a representative of an Italian-friendly course. At the Congress of Lushnja , on a provisional constitution was approved for Albania, he did not participate. Congress declared the Përmeti government to be deposed and expressly revoked Gurakuqi's legitimacy as a delegate at the peace conference.

In 1921 Gurakuqi was elected to represent Shkodra in the first Albanian parliament. He was considered one of the most dedicated debate speakers and probably remained non-attached. He remained in opposition to the rapidly changing governments, mostly controlled by large landowners, and to the rising politician Ahmet Zogu . In 1923, as head of a commission, he submitted a proposal to parliament for a new electoral law: According to this, women who could read and write should take part in the first ballot. In order to rule out manipulation and to make it easier for illiterate people to vote, voting should not be made with notes, but with balls that were to be thrown into separate containers. Candidates, civil servants and electors (there was an indirect right to vote) should not be in the polling station, the army and gendarmerie should stay in their barracks on election day , and no officials should sit on the election boards. However, the proposals, which would have significantly reduced the risk of election rigging, were rejected by Parliament. In the following elections, the organization he led “Ora e Maleve” (Mountain Fairy) won 12 seats in Shkodra. Among other things, she called for the capital to be moved to Shkodra.

The "June Revolution" 1924

Monument of Luigj Gurakuqi in Shkodra

In 1924 the political situation worsened dramatically. On February 24, Prime Minister Zogu was injured by pistol shots in parliament and failed to form a government. A state of emergency was declared on April 6th after the murder of two American tourists in the Durrës area. Gurakuqi then joined the government of the landowner Verlaci as finance minister. On April 20, the popular Avni Rustemi , head of the Bashkimi organization , was murdered by a tenant of Essad Pasha . Ahmet Zogu was taken for the client of the act. 10,000 people attended Rustemi's funeral in Vlora (Albania had 800,000 inhabitants at the time), including Gurakuqi and Fan Noli . Under his chairmanship, 20 MPs formed a substitute parliament in Vlora. After a Yugoslav officer, a brother-in-law of Ahmet Zogu, crossed the border to Albania with troops, the now resigned Gurakuqi organized an armed uprising against the government troops from Shkodra. The Verlaci government resigned and its successors, threatened by insurgents from the south, left the country. Zogu fled to Yugoslavia. In the now installed revolutionary government under Fan Noli, Gurakuqi remained finance minister. The new government announced, albeit vaguely, an agricultural reform, a changed tax system, better security against attacks by officials and a disarmament of the population. However, it was internally at odds and only partially met the demands made by the farmers of the Myzeqe level for tax relief. The estates of some large landowners who had fled were nationalized, but not distributed to landless farmers. New elections have been announced for December. From August to November 1924 Gurakuqi and Noli stayed at the League of Nations Assembly in Geneva to clarify problems with neighboring states and to receive financial aid for their state. However, Zogu prepared his return to power in Belgrade, which was massively supported by Yugoslavia's Prime Minister Pašić , a Serb, because Zogu promised to crush the Kosovar Bajram Curri's free corps operating from Albania . Zogu's troops, which consisted largely of Yugoslavs and refugee Russians and were supported by the regular Yugoslav army, reached Tirana on December 24 and reinstated the government that had fled in June. Two weeks later, Zogu became prime minister of a three-man cabinet and ruled authoritarian. Luigj Gurakuqi, who fled to Italy with other members of the revolutionary government, was murdered in Bari on March 2, 1925. His killer, Balto Stambolla, claimed to have acted out of personal hatred and was acquitted by an Italian court. It is considered certain that Zogu was behind the attack.

Gurakuqi's main political goal was to overcome the feudal-Ottoman backwardness of Albania, primarily by promoting popular education. The assessment of his life's work varies. The German ambassador to Albania at the time, Kardorff, called him the flexible opportunist from Scutari , while his biographer Piro Tako called him an important democrat with revolutionary views . His contributions to language and educational policy are widely recognized.

The University of Shkodra Luigj Gurakuqi was named after him in 1991. There is also a monument to him in this town.

Sources and literature

• Piro Tako: Luigj Gurakuqi. Jeta dhe Vepra . 8 Nëntori, Tirana 1980.
• Michael Schmidt-Neke: Development and expansion of the royal dictatorship in Albania (1912-1939). Formation of government, mode of rule and power elite in a young Balkan state . Oldenbourg, Munich 1987, ISBN 3-486-54321-0 , ( Southeast European Works 84).
• Miranda Vickers: The Albanians. A modern history. Tauris, London et al. 1995, ISBN 1-85043-749-1 .

Web links

• Biography Gurakuqi (Albanian)
• Gurakuqi's monument in Shkodra