Jonuz Kaceli (20 June 1908 – 25 February 1951) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

businessman and dissident of the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in Albania. He was one of the 23 victims of the regime's

Massacre of 1951 in Albania The People's Republic of Albania executed 22 intellectuals without trial on 26 February 1951, as ordered by Enver Hoxha. They were accused of bombing the Soviet embassy in Tirana. The victims were 21 males and one female. One day earlier, Jonuz ...

Life

Jonuz Kaceli was born in 1908 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 ...

. Prior to his arrest and killing, he had been a well known businessman 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 ...

, as the co-owner in the company Osman Kaceli e djemtë, which had been one of the first companies registered in

after the

Albanian Declaration of Independence The Albanian Declaration of Independence ( Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Assem ...

in 1912. He was also the brother of

Sadik Kaceli Sadik Kaceli (14 March 1914 – 24 December 2000) was an Albanian artist. He studied in Paris at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts (1936–1941). Kaceli is one of Albania's best known painters, receiving many decorations as People's ...

, a famous Albanian painter.

Qemal Stafa Qemal Stafa (20 March 1920 – 5 May 1942) was a founding member of the Albanian Communist Party, and the leader of its youth section. Biography Stafa was born in Elbasan in 1920, in a family originating from the Zabzun village, at the time part ...

, a notable

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 ...

hero, had been a company employee prior to his death in 1942.

Importance

Kaceli had been an important person in the business community of Tirana.Telegraf published on 9 march 200

an

/ref> He allegedly punched

Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian communist politician who served as the 23rd Prime Minister of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the communist p ...

in the face and lightly injured him during such interrogations. As a result, according to a witness who told the story in 1993, he was thrown from the second floor of the Ministry of the Interior building and thus killed one day prior to the rest of the victims of the massacre, on 25 February 1951. He was survived by his wife and seven children, all of whom were sent to Albanian

gulags The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= was the government agency in ...

after the killing took place.

Recognition

In 2008, his act was recognized by the President of Albania,

Bamir Topi Bamir Myrteza Topi (; born 24 April 1957)CV at Albanian presidency website
. i ...

, and Kaceli was duly awarded post mortem the medal of Martyr of Democracy. His corpse is now buried at the Albanian National Martyrs Cemetery ( sq, Dëshmorët e Kombit).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaceli, Jonuz 20th-century Albanian businesspeople 1908 births 1951 deaths Executed Albanian people People from Tirana People executed by defenestration 20th-century executions by Albania

Life

Importance

Recognition

See also

References