Bedri Spahiu was born in Gjirokastër, activist of the communist movement in Albania, participant of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War, high official of the state and of the Labor Party of Albania, Hero of the People. He started his secondary education in Izmir (Turkey) and continued intermittently in Shkodër. In the years 1927-1931 he entered the army and completed the artillery course. There he created the communist group of soldiers. In June 1937, together with some soldiers of the group, he was arrested and then exiled to Gjirokastër. During an attempt to escape abroad, he was arrested in Vlora and ended up in Gjirokastra prison (1938). Organized and led anti-fascist demonstrations in April 1939. Member of the Albanian Communist Party since its foundation; was appointed district secretary for Gjirokastra (1942) and then political commissar of Operative Zone I Vlorë-Gjirokastra. Bedri Spahiu was one of the main organizers of the anti-fascist resistance in the southern provinces. Member of the Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party (March 1943), member of the General Staff of the National Liberation Army (July 1943), member of the Presidency of the National Liberation Anti-Fascist Council (May 1944), member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party ( November 1944). After liberation, he was appointed to important state functions: Prosecutor General of the People’s Republic of Albania, Minister of Social Assistance, Secretary of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Albania, Minister of Education. Member of the People’s Assembly in three legislatures. At the Plenum of the Central Committee on June 17, 1955, he was expelled from the Political Bureau, from the Central Committee and from the party for views contrary to the party line. He was then imprisoned. On October 6, 1974, he was released from Burrel prison and was exiled to Selenica, Vlora and other places. He passed away in Tirana, in 1998. (In the photo: Bedri Spahiu)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, pages 2374-2375.
Photo: © https://www.radiandradi.com/
Graphic processing: AHCF
