In Durrës, Nako Spiru, a political activist and one of the key leaders of the National Liberation Anti-Fascist War, the Albanian Communist Party, the Albanian Communist Youth, and the Albanian state after liberation, was born. He completed his primary education in his hometown and attended the Italian commercial college in Corfu. From 1937 to 1941, he pursued higher studies in economics at the University of Turin but interrupted them to join the National Liberation Anti-Fascist War. As a member of the Communist Group of Korça, he became a founding member of the Albanian Communist Party. He participated in the founding meeting of the Albanian Communist Youth Organization, where he was elected to the Provisional Central Committee. After the death of Qemal Stafa, he was elected Political Secretary of the Albanian Communist Party. In September 1942, he attended the First National Liberation Conference as a representative of the Albanian Anti-Fascist Youth Union. He became a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party in 1943 and a member of the General National Liberation Council in the same year. At the Second Plenum of the Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party (Berat, November 1944), he harshly criticized the policies and activities of the Albanian Communist Party and Enver Hoxha. After liberation, he was appointed Minister of Economy and Chairman of the State Planning Commission (1946–1947). He contributed significantly to organizing the state and strengthening the economy. During this time, he confronted the interference and ambitions of the Yugoslav leadership to turn Albania’s economy into an extension of Yugoslavia’s, opposing efforts to suppress Albania’s independent development. The Yugoslav leadership launched a campaign against him, attempting to discredit and politically eliminate him, accusing him of promoting an anti-Yugoslav sentiment in Albania. In the difficult situation that arose due to Yugoslav pressures, which the leadership of the Albanian Communist Party eventually submitted to, Nako Spiru took his own life in 1947. At the Eighth Plenum of the Central Committee (February 1948), he was declared an enemy, but he was rehabilitated at the Eleventh Plenum (September 1948). At the First Congress of the Albanian Communist Party (November 1948), he was recognized as a victim of Yugoslav intrigues. He took his own life in 1947 and was declared a “Martyr of the Nation” by the People’s Assembly in 1949. He was awarded the “Honor of the Nation” order.
Text: Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH,” Tirana, 2009, page 2382.
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