Skënder Gjinushi (born 24 December 1949 in

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...

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 ...

) is an Albanian politician and academic. He has served in several high-ranking positions in the Albanian government, including as

Speaker of Parliament The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

. He founded the

Social Democratic Party of Albania The Social Democratic Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Socialdemokrate e Shqipërisë, PSD or PSDSH) is a minor party, minor social democracy, social-democratic list of political parties in Albania, political party in Albania. Its founder is Skënd ...

and served as its chairman from 1991 to 2019. He is currently serving as the president of the

Academy of Sciences of Albania The Academy of Sciences of Albania ( sq, Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë), founded in 1972, is the most important scientific institution in Albania. In the 1980s, several research institutes began at the University of Tirana were transferred ...

Early life and academic career

Skënder Gjinushi was born 24 December 1949 in Vlorë. He was educated at a high school 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 ...

, and graduated from the

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 1972 with a degree in

mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

. He completed postgraduate studies at

Pierre and Marie Curie University Pierre and Marie Curie University (french: link=no, Université Pierre-et-Marie-Curie, UPMC), also known as Paris 6, was a public university, public research university in Paris, France, from 1971 to 2017. The university was located on the Jussi ...

in France, earning a doctoral degree in

functional analysis Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. Inner product space#Definition, inner product, Norm (mathematics)#Defini ...

. He has published several articles in mathematics.

Political career

Gjinushi was Minister of Education from 1987 to 1991, during Albania's

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 1991, after the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

, he founded the

(PSD), and served as the party's first chairman. Gjinushi was elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the 1992 elections. He served as

from 1997 to 2001. He then had a stint as

from 2001 to 2002, in the

Meta II META II is a domain-specific programming language for writing compilers. It was created in 1963–1964 by Dewey Val Schorre at UCLA. META II uses what Schorre called syntax equations. Its operation is simply explained as: Each ''syntax equation'' ...

and Majko II governments. During this period, he also served as Minister of Labour and Social Affairs. In 2000, ''Koha Jonë'' published an interview with

Dhori Kule Dhori Kule (born February 17, 1957) was RectorInformation con ...

, a former secretary-general of the PSD. In the interview Kule accused PSD leaders of corruption and nepotism, and was particularly critical of Gjinushi. Gjinushi responded to the interview, which referred to him as a "dangerous mafioso in politics", by bringing

libel Defamation is the act of communicating to a third party false statements about a person, place or thing that results in damage to its reputation. It can be spoken (slander) or written (libel). It constitutes a tort or a crime. The legal defini ...

charges against the reporter who conducted it. The case has been cited as an example of the Albanian government's failure to protect press freedoms.

Return to academics

Gjinushi was elected president of the

on 24 May 2019. This election was accused of being a political appointment by Prime Minister

Edi Rama Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama, 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and current Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairm ...

, who threatened to withhold funding if Gjinushi was not elected. For several years prior, Gjinushi had been a member of the Academy in violation of the law, which states that no one holding a political position may be a member. At a press conference immediately after his election was announced, Gjinushi

sexually harassed Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. Sexual harassment includes a range of actions fro ...

a female journalist. President of Albania

Ilir Meta Ilir Rexhep Meta (; born 24 March 1969) is an Albanian politician. He served as President of Albania from 24 July 2017 to 24 July 2022. Previously Meta served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2002 and he was Speaker of the Parliament of Albania f ...

refused to approve Gjinushi's election, citing his leadership of the PSD while competing for the position. The day after Meta's statement, the Academy called his refusal "absolutely invalid". Consequently, Parliament passed a law stating that the Academy can override the president's veto, giving it the power to complete Gjinushi's nomination. Gjinushi was ultimately confirmed as president of the Academy. As a result of his election, Gjinushi resigned from the PSD, and was replaced as party leader by Ëngjëll Bejtaj.

Personal life

Gjinushi is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjinushi, Skender 1949 births Living people Speakers of the Parliament of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Political party leaders of Albania People from Vlorë University of Tirana alumni Social Democratic Party of Albania politicians