Qemal Stafa (20 March 1920 – 5 May 1942) was an Albanian politician and one of the founding members of the Albanian Communist Party, and the leader of its youth section.

Biography

Stafa was born in Elbasan in 1920, into a

Gheg Albanian 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 ...

family originating from the Zabzun village, which was part of the Dibra Region at the time. His father Hasan was in the military, and moved in 1923 to Shkodër as Director of the Recruiting Office for the Prefecture of Shkodër. Qemal Stafa studied 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 ...

at the Saverian College. With the educational reforms established by the Minister Mirash Ivanaj, private schools were closed and Stafa moved to the public high school of Shkodër. After the death of his father in 1936, his family moved to

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 ...

, where he studied at the Tirana Lyceum (subsequently named Qemal Stafa High School). He was one of the co-founders of the Communist Group of Shkodër, one out of three groups that would join in 1941 to form the Communist Party of Albania. In February 1939, a special court sat in Tirana against 73 people suspected for performing communist activities and propaganda. Among others there were, Tuk Jakova, Vasil Shanto, Vojo Kushi, Branko Kadia, Zef Mala, Emin Duraku and the young Stafa who was arrested on 24 January. He was sentenced to three years due to his age, while he accepted all accusations. With the turmoils of the

Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania was a brief military campaign which was launched by Fascist Italy, Italy against Albanian Kingdom (1928–1939), Albania in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...

of 7 April 1939, he was released from jail. Stafa spent some time in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

as a law student, on a scholarship from the Albanian government. Stafa was one of the founding members of the Albanian Communist Party in Tirana on 8 November 1941. He was killed in a house on the outskirts of

by the

Italian fascist Italian fascism (), also called classical fascism and Fascism, is the original fascist ideology, which Giovanni Gentile and Benito Mussolini developed in Italy. The ideology of Italian fascism is associated with a series of political parties le ...

forces, who had occupied Albania. The 5 May, the anniversary of his death, was chosen after the end of the war as the Martyrs' Day of Albania to commemorate all those who gave their lives for Albania's liberation. Many streets, squares and schools in different cities bear his name as well as a military base, Albania's former

national stadium Many countries have a national sport stadium, which typically serves as the primary or exclusive home for one or more of a country's national representative sports teams. The term is most often used in reference to an association football ...

and the Main Stand in the current national stadium,

Arena Kombëtare Arena Kombëtare () is an All-seater stadium, all-seater, multi-purpose stadium, multi-purpose Association football, football stadium located in the Albanian capital city of Tirana which was built on the ground of the former Qemal Stafa Stadium. ...

. Although he was glorified in the

People's Socialist Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the P ...

, his fiancée and his siblings' families were imprisoned and persecuted by the same administration, a fact not known by most Albanians.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stafa, Qemal 1920 births 1942 deaths Albanian communists Heroes of Albania People from Elbasan Qemal Stafa High School alumni Albanian resistance members