Hasan Dosti (1895January 29, 1991) was an Albanian jurist and politician. Being a staunch Albanian nationalist, Dosti was considered by the Albanian communists to be one of their greatest enemies.

Biography

Early life

Hasan Dosti was born in

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 ...

(then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the village of

Kardhiq Kardhiq is a village in the former Cepo commune, Gjirokastër County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Gjirokastër. The village is inhabited by Muslim Albanians and an Orthodox Albanian population ...

near Gjirokastra, to Elmaz

Aga Aga or AGA may refer to: Business * Architectural Glass and Aluminum (AGA), a glazing contractor, established in 1970 * AGA (automobile), ''Autogen Gasaccumulator AG'', 1920s German car company *AGA AB, ''Aktiebolaget Svenska Gasaccumulator'', a ...

of the Dosti branch of Muslim Albanian

Tosk Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is t ...

household Dosti-Hajdaragaj. Back then the village was 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) ...

and belonged to the Vilayet of Janina with majority Albanian population. He attended the schools in

Filippiada Filippiada ( el, Φιλιππιάδα) is a small town and a former municipality in the Preveza regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Ziros, of which it is a municipal unit. The munic ...

and the Philosophy Zosimaia School in Ioannina. His family moved to Vlora after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, where Dosti came into contact with

Avni Rustemi Avni Rustemi (22 September 1895 – 22 April 1924) was an Albanian patriot, militant, teacher, activist and member of the Albanian parliament. Rustemi was the leader of both democratic organisations "Atdheu" and "Bashkimi", and also a member ...

. Dosti then moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

to complete his tertiary education at the faculty of law of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. After graduating, he returned to

to work as a lawyer. In the 1920s he served a member of court of cassation of Albania under Thoma Orollogaj, who was the minister of justice at the time.

Opposition to monarchy

An opponent of Ahmet Zogu, he was imprisoned several times. From 1932 to 1935 he was sentenced to prison because of his participation in the ''Movement of Vlorë'', an anti-monarchist organization founded by Dosti himself and Skënder Muço among others. In the late 1930s he organized an assassination plot against leading Italian and Albanian fascists.

Balli Kombëtar

In 1941 he initially became Minister of Justice in Mustafa Merlika-Kruja's cabinet under Italian occupation; however, in 1943 Dosti defected and joined the Balli Kombëtar. He was a leading figure of the Balli Kombëtar during World War II and was one of Balli Kombëtar's representatives in the Assembly of Mukje after he left the government in June 1942. With the communists on the brink of victory, Hasan Dosti managed to escape to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in a boat provided by the Abwehr.

Exile

Hasan Dosti emigrated to the United States from Italy in 1949 and became head of the National Committee for a Free Albania after Mit'hat Frashëri's death. The "National Committee for a Free Albania" was an organisation that was part of the

National Committee for a Free Europe The National Committee for a Free Europe, later known as Free Europe Committee, was an anti-communist Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) front organization, founded on June 1, 1949, in New York City, which worked for the spreading of American infl ...

seeking to undermine Communist rule in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

. He dismissed as Communist propaganda assertions that Albanian emigres included collaborators with the Axis powers during the war. He sought to bring about unity with the Prizren Committee, expressing the view that the liberation of Albania could be utilised effectively to bring about the overthrow of the government led by Enver Hoxha. Hasan Dosti felt that Yugoslav promises not to establish by force a Titoist government in Albania were not completely reliable, but that if such a government was established it would at least remove Albania from the Soviet orbit. However, official circles in Washington and London did not share Dosti's views, and the United States government presented an aide-memoire to Yugoslavia stating that it would “look with concern on efforts by any interested nation to take unilateral action vis-a-vis Albania”.

Death

Hasan Dosti died at the age of 96. He had eight children, Luan, of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, an aerospace engineer; and seven others who remained in Albania, including Shano Sokoli, Viktor Dosti, Tomorr Dosti, Ernest Dosti and Veronika Dine who spent their lives under Albania's Stalinist regime in labor camps and prisons.New York Times: Hasan Dosti, 96, Dies; Ex-Official in Albania
/ref> After the fall of communism, his son Tomor Dosti served as a deputy chairman of the anti-Communist Democratic Party, was elected as a deputy of the Albanian parliament in the 1990s.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dosti, Hasan 1895 births 1991 deaths People from Gjirokastër People from Janina vilayet 20th-century Albanian judges Balli Kombëtar University of Paris alumni Albanian anti-communists Zosimaia School alumni 20th-century Albanian politicians Government ministers of Albania Justice ministers of Albania Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Albanian expatriates in the United States Albanian people of World War II Albanian expatriates in France