Ali Progri (October 10, 1929 - March 24, 2009) was an Albanian engineer. He was a participant in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and afterwards was graduated in

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

, Ukraine (then part of

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

). He had a remarkable career and held various high-ranking positions during his lifetime. Ali Progri was awarded the distinguished title ''Merited Teacher of Albania''.

Early life and education

Ali Progri was born in the village of

Progër Progër is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Devoll, Korçë, Devoll. The population at the 2011 census was 3,988.

in Albania, on 19 October 1929 and was the son of Muharrem Progri. He took part actively in the

Albanian Resistance of World War II In Albania, World War II began with its invasion by Italy in April 1939. Fascist Italy set up Albania as its protectorate or puppet state. The resistance was largely carried out by Communist groups against the Italian (until 1943) and then Germ ...

and after finishing his high school in Albania he went to

, Ukraine in 1948 for his academic studies. In 1953 he was graduated from

Kiev Polytechnic Institute ) , image = NTUU KPI logo.png , image_size = 220px , caption = Seal of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute , established = 1898 , students = 36,000 (approximately) , admini ...

, achieving high results.

Career

After returning to

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 ...

he was active in the field of engineering and was among the founders of the modern

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of ...

in 1957 (even though the first academic institute, ''The Pedagogical Institute of Tirana'' was founded on December 20, 1946) and eventually he earned the position of vice-

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the Faculty of Civil Engineering. Thanks to his experience and intellectual profile he would be chosen as Director in the Directory of Professional Middle Education in the

Council of Ministers of Albania The Council of Ministers () is the executive branch that constitutes the Government of Albania. The Council is led by the Prime Minister of Albania. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Albania, President from among those candidates ...

. As a distinguished engineer and expert in the field of applied

mechanics Mechanics (from Ancient Greek: μηχανική, ''mēkhanikḗ'', "of machines") is the area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects. Forces applied to objects r ...

he also earned the position of the Chief Technology Officer of the ''Train Factory'' in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and 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 overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

. Nevertheless, he is most notable for his 27 years as the Principal of the ''Polytechnic High School of Tirana. For his contribution in the

he was awarded by the

Parliament of Albania The Parliament of Albania ( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) 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 ...

( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) the ''Medal of Liberation and Memory'' and for the experience and contribution in the education field, he gained the honorific title ''Merited Teacher of Albania''. The engineer Ali Progri also held the title

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

. He died in

, on 24 March 2009, at the age of 80.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Progri, Ali 1929 births 2009 deaths Albanian engineers Engineering academics People from Devoll (municipality) 20th-century engineers Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Tirana