Abdyl Këllezi (20 August 1919 – 17 May 1977) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n politician of the

Communist era A communist era is a sustained period of national government by a single party following the philosophy of Marxism–Leninism. Many countries have experienced such a period of communist rule. Current communist states China The Chinese Communist ...

. He served as

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the

Assembly of the Republic of Albania The Parliament of Albania () or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a four-year term on the b ...

from 10 September 1966 to 13 January 1969.

Life and activity

Këllezi was born in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

on 20 August 1919. He studied business administration in the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

, and later pursued military studies in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Due to his

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

activities he was arrested in 1939 and interned in the famous

Ventotene Ventotene (; locally ; or ; , or ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of Ventotene, of the province of Latina (Lazio) had 708 perman ...

. He stayed there until 1941, but was arrested again soon-after in 1942 and spent some more time in prison. After his release, he joined the

LANC LANC (Logic Application Control Bus System or Local Application Control Bus System), also known as Control-L is a hardware and software communication protocol invented by Sony that synchronizes cameras. The LANC terminal on Sony and other manufact ...

for what remained from

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, while being elected member of the General Council of LANC since 1943. In 1944 Këllezi was member of the military

general staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, Enlisted rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

of the new government.
From 1945 to 1946 he served as Director of the newly re-established

Albanian State Bank The Bank of Albania () is the central bank of Albania, issuing the Albanian lek. It is headquartered in Tirana, with five branches in Shkodër, Elbasan, Gjirokastër, Korçë and Lushnjë, and a Research and Training Center in Berat. The bank wa ...

. Afterwards he held several positions:

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

during 1948-1953 and 1954–1958, Chairman of the State Planning Commission 1968–1975, Deputy

Prime Minister A prime minister 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. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

June 1958–March 1966, Chairman of the Sino-Albanian Friendship Association 1959–1975, member of the Central Committee of the Labor Party of Albania from June 1956 to 1975, and 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 follow ...

1971–1975, and Chairman of the Parliament of Albania from September 1966 to January 1969.

Demise

In 1975, together with

Kiço Ngjela Kiço Ngjela (25 December 1917 – 16 June 2002) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Ngjela was born in Sheper (Zagori, Albania, Zagori region) of the Gjirokastër District in Albania. In 1945 he became a member of ...

(Minister of Trade) and Koço Theodhosi (Minister of Industry and Mines), Këllezi was accused of "grave revisionist mistakes". His sentence included having infiltrated agents of

UDBA The State Security Service, also known by its original name as the Directorate for State Security, was the secret police organization of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Communist Yugoslavia. It was at all times best known by the acrony ...

disguised as trade officials, having favored

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

in the Albanian-Yugoslavian commerce, having tried to sabotage

Self-Reliance "Self-Reliance" is an 1841 essay written by American transcendentalist philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson. It contains the most thorough statement of one of his recurrent themes: the need for each person to avoid conformity and false consistency, ...

by pushing unnecessary trade with Western countries, as well as Asian and African "Revisionist" countries, etc. The seventh congress of the Labour Party (26–29 May 1975) marked his fate. He was released from all duties, arrested and later executed.

References

1919 births 1976 deaths Politicians from Tirana Party of Labour of Albania politicians Members of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania Candidate members of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania Government ministers of Albania Deputy prime ministers of Albania Finance ministers of Albania Governors of the Bank of Albania Speakers of the Parliament of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Communism in Albania Albanian anti-fascists Albanian resistance members Executed politicians Executed Albanian people People executed by Albania by firing squad {{Albania-politician-stub