Sejfi Vllamasi (1883–1975) was an

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 The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the ...

n congressman and well-known politician during the first half of the 20th century. He was born in the village of Novoselë, in

Kolonjë Kolonjë is a municipality in Korçë County, southeastern Albania. It was created in 2015 by the merger of the former municipalities Barmash, Çlirim, Ersekë, Leskovik, Mollas, Novoselë, Qendër Ersekë and Qendër Leskovik. The seat of th ...

, Albania (at the time part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

). Vllamasi studied in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, to become a

veterinary Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

. His political activities started in 1905, as activist of the Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania in Monastir. Vllamasi was one of the initiators of the

Committee of Kosovo The Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo ( sq, Komiteti "Mbrojtja Kombëtare e Kosovës" abbrev. KMKK) was an Albanian organization founded in Shkodër on 1 May 1918. It was mainly consisted of the political exiles from Kosovo and was led ...

of 1918, founded in Shkoder. He was the initial leader of the Populist Party together with

Pandeli Evangjeli Pandeli Evangjeli (6 January 1859 – 14 September 1949) was an Albanian politician who served two terms as the 7th Prime Minister of Albania. He was the first Orthodox Christian to head the Albanian government. Early life and career Born in ...

and Eshref Frasheri. In April 1923 he was appointed Minister of Public Works. He took part in the June Revolution of 1924 to overthrow the rightist government. After the revolution was crushed, he migrated to

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

. Vllamasi has been accused of participating in the anti-royalist movement during his exile in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. He was a founding member of the "Bashkimi Kombetar" (National Union) organization, one of the organizations that collected many anti- Zog politicians in exile. Vllamasi was one of the organizers of the assassination attempt on Zogu in Vienna (1931). He was arrested by the Austrian police, released shortly after and deported from Austria. After that he moved to

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. ...

along with most of the other diaspora activists. During Nazi Germany's occupation, Vllamasi returned to Albania and became a member of the puppet government. He had an extremely difficult life during the communist rule of the

Albanian Party of Labour 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 ...

, being imprisoned (1947–1956) and forced to work even in his old age. Vllamasi's memoirs, titled ''Ballafaqime politike në Shqipëri (1899–1942) (Political Confrontations in Albania (1899–1942))'', reveal him to be an open critic of other personalities like

Luigj Gurakuqi Luigj Gurakuqi (also called Louis Gurakuchi; 19 February 1879 – 2 March 1925) was an Albanian writer and politician. He was an important figure of the Albanian National Awakening and was honoured with the People's Hero of Albania medal. ...

and some of the Kosovar irredentists, and even the line of action followed by Noli and the opposition of the early 1920s . His memoirs are a vast source of information on the politics of early 20th-century Albania and on many Albanian personalities of that time.

References

Further

* Vllamasi, Sejfi. ''Ballafaqime politike në Shqipëri (1897–1942) : kujtime dhe vlerësime historike'', editor Verli, Marenglen. Publisher: Shtëpia Botuese "Neraida", Tirana, 1995. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Vllamasi, Sejfi 1883 births 1975 deaths Albanian politicians People from Kolonjë 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Government ministers of Albania Public Works ministers of Albania People from Janina vilayet Albanian people in the Ottoman Empire