Rita Marko (17 February 1920 – 15 June 2018) 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 ...

political figure of Aromanian ethnicity who served in a number of positions 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 ...

during its socialist period.

Biography

Marko was born in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...

as the son of

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

ethnic Aromanian parents and attended

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...

. In 1936 he partook in a strike of petroleum workers organized by the ''Puna'' (''Work'') trade union in the area, which was associated with the Korçë Communist Group. He joined the resistance forces after the

Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...

in 1939 and joined the Communist Party of Albania (from 1948 the Party of Labour of Albania) in 1942. During the war he served in secession as company and later battalion commissar of the Fourth Partisan Brigade, commissar of the Twelfth Partisan Brigade, commissar of the Eighth People's Defense Brigade and up to 1948 regimental commissar in the Security Forces with the rank of

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

. He became a deputy to the People's Assembly in 1950 and a member of its Presidium in 1952. From 1956 to 1958 he served as Chairman of the Assembly and Vice-Chairman from 1966 to 1976. From July 1950 to March 1951 he served as Minister of Industry. In 1952 he became a member of the General Council of the

Trade Unions of Albania The Trade Unions of Albania ( sq, Bashkimet Profesionale të Shqipërisë, BPSh) was a mass organization of the Party of Labour of Albania during the socialist period which represented the interests of the working class in industry. Like other mas ...

and served as its Chairman from 1970 to 1982. In April 1950 he became a candidate member of the Central Committee of the PLA, full member at the Second Party Congress in 1952 and a member of the Politburo at the Third Congress in 1956. He served as First Secretary of the Party committee in Korçë district from 1949 to 1950 and of the Durrës Party committee from 1966 to 1970. In March 1951 he became Secretary of the Party's Central Committee. In December 1991 he was arrested and put on trial in July 1994 alongside some other prominent PLA leaders, being sentenced to eight years in prison after being accused of abuse of power. He was released in July 1995.

Biography

References

Further reading