Hysni Kapo (1915–1979) was an Albanian military commander and leading member of the

Party of Labour of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

. A member of the Communist Youth group, Kapo was first distinguished as an artillery commander in the

Battle of Drashovica The Battle of Drashovica ( sq, Beteja e Drashovicës) was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against Nazi Germany. The battle took place in late 1943, in the areas of Drashovicë and Mavrovë in south-western Albania in the regi ...

. In 1941 he was elected as a representative of the Youth group in the provisional central committee of the party and from 1956 until his death in 1979, he served as secretary of the central committee of the labour party. Hysni Kapo served in many ministerial positions and was a member of the

Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania The Politburo was the leading organ of the Party of Labour of Albania. It comprised key government ministers and Central Committee secretaries and served as the main administrative and policy-making body, convening on a weekly basis. The following ...

from 1948 to his death. In the 1960s he played an important role in the emancipation of women in Albania during the cultural revolution of the era, and is remembered as a trusted man of the Albanian communist leader

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unti ...

Early life

Hysni Kapo was born in Tërbaç,

Vlorë District Vlorë District ( sq, Rrethi i Vlorës) was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 147,267 in 2001, and an area of . It is in the south-west of the co ...

, southwestern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares la ...

on March 4 or 3, 1915. He studied at the Commercial School of Vlore.

Military life

In the 1930s he joined the Communist Youth group, an organization closely associated with the founders of the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Party of Labour of Albania). During World War II he commanded LNÇ units in the Vlorë area. In the

Battle of Gjorm The Battle of Gjorm ( sq, Beteja e Gjormit) was a battle of the Albanian Resistance of World War II against the Kingdom of Italy. The battle took place on January 1–2, 1943, in the areas of Gjorm, Vranisht, Dukat, Tragjas and Tërbaç in s ...

in January 1943 he was the second-in-command of the LNÇ units after

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

. In the

in September 1943 was the general commander of LNÇ battalions and was stationed in the hills opposite to the German encampment. During the battle his leg was wounded and he was moved to Lapardha.

Political life

After World War II, Kapo served as ambassador to

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

(1945–47), deputy

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(1947–49), deputy

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is n ...

(1950–56), and

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

(1951-1954). He also was member of the Central Committee of the

from 1943 till 1979, and full member of the Politburo from 1946 to 1979. From 1955 until the Soviet-Albanian split, he also served as President of the Albanian-Soviet Friendship Society. Kapo attended the 1960 International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties in the place of

and

, highlighting the growing tensions between Tirana and Moscow. Kapo was considered the third-highest party official at the time, after Hoxha and Shehu.

Personal life

Kapo was married two times. He had a son, Pëllumb, from the first marriage. Kapo was then married to Vito Kapo, née Kondi, an early communist and long time president of the Women's Branch of the Party of Labour. Kapo died in 1979 of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, France, where he was receiving medical treatment.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapo, Hysni 1915 births 1979 deaths People from Himara Labour Party of Albania politicians Anti-revisionists Hoxhaists Members of the Politburo of the Labour Party of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Deputy Prime Ministers of Albania Government ministers of Albania Agriculture ministers of Albania Ambassadors of Albania to Yugoslavia Albanian resistance members Albanian Muslims Deaths from pancreatic cancer