Tuk Jakova (20 February 1914 – 26 August 1959) 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 ...

politician in the

People's Republic of Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika Popullore Socialiste e Shqipërisë, links=no) was the Marxist–Leninist one party state that existed in Albania from 1946 to 1992 (the official name of the country was the People's R ...

. He served as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Minister of Finance, Minister of Interior, and twice as Vice-Prime Minister.

Political career

In November 1941, Jacova attended the first and founding conference of the

Party of Labor of Albania The Party of Labour of Albania ( sq, Partia e Punës e Shqipërisë, PPSh), sometimes referred to as the Albanian Workers' Party (AWP), was the ruling and sole legal party of Albania during the communist period (1945–1991). It was founded o ...

as a representative of the

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

group of Communists. Other members of the Shkodër group were Qemal Stafa and Liri Gega. From March 25, 1946 until later that year, Jakova served as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly. On 4 March 1947, Jakova arrived in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to serve as minister to Yugoslavia. By 1 June 1948, Jakova was serving as Minister of Industry. In the government reshuffle on 4 July 1950, Jakova was appointed Minister of the Interior and Vice-Prime Minister. Hysni Kapo, Spiro Koleka, and Spiro Pano also served as Vice-Prime Minister. On 23 July 1953, in a joint meeting of the plenum of the Central Committee of the Party of Labor, the Albanian Council of Ministers, and the Presidium of the National Assembly, the government of Albania is restructured. During this meeting, Jakova was appointed the Minister of Finance. On 20 July 1954, Jakova was re-appointed Vice-Prime Minister. He was President of the

Soviet–Albanian Friendship Society The Soviet–Albanian Friendship Society (Albanian: ''Shoqëria e miqësisë Shqipëri-Bashkimi Sovjetik'', Russian: ''Общество советско-албанской дружбы'') was an organization established in 1945 to facilitate cultura ...

until 1951 and President of the General Council of the Syndicate Union of Albania from 1945 to 1947.

Opposition to Enver Hoxha

In the mid-1950s, Jakova began to position himself in opposition to

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania from 1941 unt ...

, then the Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. On 4 April 1955, during a private meeting in Rome, Jakova and Bedri Spahiu attacked

's harsh rule over Albania. On 17 June 1955, during the Fourteenth Plenum of the Central Committee of the Albanian Communist Party, Jakova and Bedri Spahiu publicly voiced strong opposition to

, creating a fight within the Party. Hoxha replied by accusing Jakova of being connected to the Roman Catholic church. The Fourteenth Plenum ended with the passing of a motion to expel Jakova from the Central Committee and remove him from his government position. On 24 June 1955, Jakova was replaced in his role as Vice-Prime Minister by Koço Theodhosi. He was subsequently arrested and sentenced to 25 years in jail. He later died in the custody of political police. The purge of Jakova was endorsed by the members of the Party of Labour of Albania at the Third Congress of the Party, which occurred from 25 May to 3 June 1956.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jakova, Tuk 1914 births 1959 deaths People from Shkodër Labour Party of Albania politicians Members of the Politburo of the Labour Party of Albania Government ministers of Albania Deputy Prime Ministers of Albania Interior ministers of Albania Finance ministers of Albania Ministers without portfolio of Albania Speakers of the Parliament of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Ambassadors of Albania to Hungary Heroes of Albania