Preg Bib Doda (1859–1919), head of the province of Mirdita, leader of the anti-Ottoman movement in this province and one of the military leaders of the Albanian League of Prizren (1878) in Shkodër, passed away. He was educated as a child under the care of the Arbëresh poet Leonardo de Martino. In 1869, to prevent the people of Mirdita from rising, the Sublime Porte took him hostage in Istanbul; in 1876, he was brought to Albania. He led the anti-Ottoman uprising of 1876-1877 in Mirdita. He supported the separatist idea of creating a catholic principality in Northern Albania for a while. In the years 1878-1880, he was one of the leaders of the military staff (of Shkodra) in the fight of the forces of the League of Prizren for the protection of the entirety of the Albanian lands of the North against the Montenegrin invaders and the decisions of the Congress of Berlin (1878). In December 1880, he was treacherously arrested and exiled to Anatolia, where he was held for 28 years. During his exile, he was mutilated and one of his eyes was taken out. He returned to Albania in 1908. For his contribution to the national movement of 1910-1912, he was elected minister and then deputy prime minister in the government of Vlora. In 1914, he supported Wied’s government against the insurgents of Central Albania. In 1919, he was appointed deputy prime minister in the national government of Durrës. (In the photo: Preg Bib Doda)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 498.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preng_Bib_Doda
Graphic processing: AHCF
