Father Çiril Cani was born in Shkodër, Catholic clergyman and activist of the Albanian national movement. He headed the College of Observant Friars in Shkodër. In 1890, he left for Këršivë in Bosnia, where he finished his studies in philosophy and theology. He was ordained on August 10, 1894. In 1895, he was sent as parish priest to Preveza. After returning, in the years 1900-1912 he served in Dukagjin. In 1913, he mobilized the population of Dukagjin in the war against Montenegro. He participated in the Albanian delegation to the commission for setting the borders. With the arrival of Zog in power, he was appointed deputy commander of the forces of Shkodra. On September 21, 1946, he was arrested in his parish in Bajze i Kastrat, “for activities against the People’s Power”. On January 4, 1948, the Council of the Shkodra Military Court sentenced him to “5 years of imprisonment, the loss of civil rights for 5 years and the confiscation of movable and immovable property”. He was released three years later, on November 29, 1949. He passed away in 1967. (In the photo: Çiril Cani)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 228.
Photo: © Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism
Graphic processing: AHCF
