Trifon Xhagjika, a poet, soldier, and dissident, was executed. He was born in Peshtan, Tepelenë, in 1932. He completed his primary education in his hometown and continued his studies at the “Lidhja e Prizrenit” school in Tirana. He studied at the pedagogical institute in Elbasan in 1947. In 1951, he began working as an editor-in-chief at the magazine “Pionieri” (“The pioneer”) In 1954, he graduated from the United School in the anti-aircraft artillery branch. He worked in the regulations department at the Ministry of Defense. During the years he served as an officer, Trifon Xhagjika published cycles of poetry in the press of the time, in magazines such as “Nëntori” (“November”), “Letrari i ri” (“New literary”) “Zëri i rinisë” (“The voice of youth”), etc. In 1959, he published his first book “Gjurmët” (Traces). Trifon Xhagjika “rebelled” very quickly because he wanted freedom and poetry. He began to openly conflict with the dictatorial regime, and on December 6, 1963, he was sentenced for agitation and propaganda. He was sentenced to death by the court, while Trifon recited his poem “Atdheu është lakuriq” (“The Homeland is Naked”) in the courtroom. Trifon Xhagjika was executed in December 1962, at the age of 31. After the fall of the dictatorship, his books “Atdheu është lakuriq” (1994) and a collection of poems (2002) were published. Trifon Xhagjika also left behind the manuscript of the book “Stina mendimi” (“Season of Thought”). The executed poet, Trifon Xhagjika, can be considered as a bright meteor in Albanian poetry. In 1994, Trifon Xhagjika was posthumously awarded the high title of “Martyr of Democracy” by the President of the Republic, with the following motivation: “A political and literary dissident, an outspoken opponent of the communist dictatorship, sentenced to death and executed by it.” (In the photo: Trifon Xhagjika)
Text: Andrea Llukani, Biri i Peshtan Trifon Xhagjika , Tirana, 2018, pages 76-77.
Photo: © Albanian Telegraphic Agency
Graphic processing: AHCF
