Colonel Fiqri Dine (5 May 1897 or 3 August 1897 – 26 November 1960) was

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 ...

of Albania under

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

military occupation Military occupation, also called belligerent occupation or simply occupation, is temporary hostile control exerted by a ruling power's military apparatus over a sovereign territory that is outside of the legal boundaries of that ruling pow ...

. He was the chieftain of the Dine clan from

Debar Debar ( ; , sq-definite, Dibra or Dibra e Madhe) is a city in the western part of North Macedonia, near the border with Albania, off the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality. Debar has an ethnic Albanian majorit ...

.Albania's national liberation struggle: the bitter victory By Reginald Hibbert Page 9

Biography

Fiqiri Dine was born on 5 May 1897 in Dibër County, Dibra,

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

(now

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 ...

), the only son of Dine Maqellara an Albanian tribesman and patriot. His father was active during the Albanian revolt of 1910. He finished elementary school at

“Shehër”. Afterwards, he went to a military academy in

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

at 1914 until 1919 when he returned in Albania as lieutenant in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

Prime minister

Despite being chosen as the Prime minister of Albania, Dine was mainly influenced by

Mehdi Frashëri Mehdi bey Frashëri (28 February 1872 – 25 May 1963) was an Albanian intellectual and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Albania in the 1930s and as Chairman of the Provisional Administration Committee in the Albanian puppet govern ...

and

Abaz Kupi Abaz Kupi (6 August 1892 – 17 January 1976; also rendered Abas Kupi) was an Albanian military officer. Kupi was born in Krujë. He served as commander of the gendarmerie of the town of Kruja, and later of the town of Durrës. As a royalist, ...

. Frashëri, using Dine's connection to the Legaliteti, requested that Kupi join the government. Kupi agreed after the Albanian partisans began attacking Kupi's territory. However, the Germans refused to accept Dine and Mehdi Frashëri's proposed cabinet or Frashëri's choice to succeed Fuat Dibra, who died in February, as Regent. Dine and Frasheri proposed that a

Gheg Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

coalition should be formed. The plan was to coordinate Ballist and Zogist strength and, in cooperation with the Germans, drive back the Communists. At the same time, they hoped to convince the Allies that they were acting on behalf of an independent Albania and therefore deserved, if not direct Allied support, at least a respite from active Allied resistance. Initial military operations against the partisans were seemingly quite successful. Germans and Zogist forces, without directly cooperating, managed to drive the partisans from Mati at the end of July.

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian Communism, communist politician who served as the Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1954 to 1981. He was known ...

forces that controlled Debar, forced the partisans to retreat for the time being. However, the Allied forces began dropping supplies to partisan territory and helping them rebuild a new offensive. The Ballist-Zogist gamble had failed. A series of ominous international events during the last days of August made it abundantly clear to even the most pro-German Albanians that the German occupation of Albania would soon end. The German elite within Albania grew wary of Dine and Frasheri. Martin Schliep and Josef Fitzthum where enraged after discovering Dine's contact with the Allies, replaced him with Ibrahim Biçakçiu on 29 August 1944. Dine was Prime minister for only 43 days.

After World War II

After the war Dine, together with Muharrem Bajraktari, worked for the Albanian Committee in Paris. Dine fled from

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 ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, where he died on 26 November 1960, aged 63.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dine, Fiqri Government ministers of Albania Prime ministers of Albania 1897 births 1960 deaths Balli Kombëtar Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Albanian anti-communists Albanian expatriates in Belgium Albanian exiles People from Dibër (municipality)