Sulejman Delvina, prime minister of the government that emerged from the Lushnja Congress (1920) and political activist, died in Vlora. He was born in Delvina in 1884. He was involved in the national movement since he was studying at the “Zosimea” high school in Ioannina and continued his patriotic activity in Istanbul (1911), where he was one of the central figures of the Albanian club. Together with other patriots, he opposed the Young Turk policy and the intentions of the neighboring monarchies towards Albania. In July 1911, he led the demonstration of Albanian students in Istanbul to support the alphabet of the Congress of Manastir and the demands of the national movement. He was one of the signatories of the appeal of November 18, 1912, delivered to the representatives of the Great Powers in Istanbul, where it was requested that the national rights of the Albanians be recognized. In April 1919, the Albanian colony in Turkey sent him as a representative to the Peace Conference in Paris to protect the interests of Albania and to resolve the political disputes arising among the representatives of the Albanian delegation. The Lushnja National Congress (1920) elected Sulejman Delvina as the head of the Albanian government. In this task, he remained in a patriotic position and fought with determination to implement the decisions of the Congress of Lushnja. He supported the fight against the Esadist gangs in 1920 and influenced the successful conclusion of the Vlora War (1920) and the signing of the Italo-Albanian Protocol of August 2nd, 1920. Sulejman Delvina participated in the Democratic Revolution of June 1924. He was appointed minister of Foreign Affairs in Fan Noli’s government. After the suppression of the revolution, he left Albania and stayed in Europe as a political emigrant. In 1928 he returned to Albania ill and died in Vlora. (In the photo: Sulejman Delvina)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 437.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulejman_Delvina
Graphic processing: AHCF
