Kristaq Tutulani, anti-fascist activist and participant in the National Liberation Anti-Fascist War, poet and prose writer, martyr, was shot in Gosa of Kavaja. He was born in Berat in 1919. In his hometown, he attended the city school and started high school. He continued his education at the National High School (French) in Korça, from where he was expelled in 1940 for participating in the anti-fascist demonstration of November 28, 1939, and for anti-fascist activities at school. He completed his final year at the gymnasium in Shkodër, where he graduated. He started studying law at the University of Florence, but interrupted it and returned to his homeland to participate in the National Liberation Anti-Fascist Movement. In 1942, he became a member of the Communist Party of Albania; in early 1943, he was elected a member of the County Committee of the Communist Party of Albania for Berat, responsible for agitation, propaganda, and work with intellectuals. Kristaq Tutulani was one of the leading activists of the anti-fascist and communist movement in the city and district of Berat. He conducted extensive propaganda and organizational activities to mobilize the people in the National Liberation Anti-Fascist War. His activity is detailed in the diary he kept during the first six months of 1943, documenting his work and the activities of the County Committee of the Communist Party for Berat. Kristaq Tutulani also left a literary legacy, in poetry and prose, covering a wide range of topics, with a predominance of patriotic and social themes. He also wrote literary criticism and scientific studies and translated works from world progressive literature into Albanian, among others. His literary work is compiled in the volume “Shkrime të zgjedhura” (Selected Writings) (1966). Pursued by the fascists, he was caught off guard along with his sister, Margarita Tutulani. After being tortured for several days in the prison of Berat, the fascists sent him to Tirana, but he was shot dead on the way in 1943. (In the photo: Kristaq Tutulani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2769.
Photo: © http://www.veteraniobvl.org/html/veterani/tutulani.php
Graphic processing: AHCF
