Rexhep Mitrovica (1888–1960), activist of the national movement for independence, intellectual, prime minister during a period of German occupation, was born in Mitrovica. He finished the secondary school “Idadije” in Skopje (1916-1920) and completed higher studies in pedagogical sciences in Vienna. He collaborated on the holding of the Congress of Manastir and in the implementation of its Latin alphabet. He participated as a delegate of Peja in the Assembly of Vlora, which proclaimed the Independence of Albania in 1912, and was one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence. Rexhep Mitrovica worked for the nationalization and democratization of the Albanian educational system, for raising the professional level of the school, as well as helping illegal Albanian education in Kosova. During the Second World War he was a member of the Albanian State Council (1941–1942) and the commander of the Albanian Volunteer Forces in Kosova (1942–1943). He was arrested and imprisoned by the Italians (1943). He was prime minister of Albania in the period 5.11.1943–16.6.1944. On the eve of liberation, he left the country. (In the photo: Rexhep Mitrovica)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1746.
Photo: © National History Museum
Graphic processing: AHCF
