Father Aleks Baqli, a Catholic clergyman, leader of the Antonian Society, and secretary of the Albanian Franciscan Province, passed away in a Rome hospital. He was born in Shkodër in 1918. He graduated from the “Illyricum” high school in 1939 and completed his higher studies in theology and philosophy in Siena, Italy. He was ordained on June 28, 1942. As the leader of the Antonian Society, he was a professor of stylistics and the history of the Middle Ages and Modern era at the “Illyricum” Lyceum in Shkodër, among other roles. He also taught dogma and morality in the high school of theology among the friars. He wrote the drama “Skanderbeu,” which was performed several times in Shkodër before the establishment of communism. He served for many years in the church of Gjujadoli and later in that of Arra e Madhe in Shkodra. Father Baqli witnessed the placing of weapons in the church by the Security forces in November 1946. For this reason, he was arrested on November 11, 1946 and accused of “agitation and propaganda and attempts to overthrow popular power with weapons.” He was released in 1956 but was arrested again in 1976 and sentenced to ten years in prison. He was released in 1987. After the reopening of the churches, he resumed his service in the cemetery chapel in Shkodër. He then served in several different churches in the city and some surrounding villages. He passed away in 1993 and was buried in the cemetery of Rrmaji in Shkodër. (In the photo: Aleks Baqli)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 152-153.
Photo: © Ledio Xhoxhi, personal archive.
Graphic processing: AHCF
