Pjetër Filip Arbnori (18 January 1936 – 8 July 2006) was an Albanian

gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

survivor. He was dubbed "the Mandela of the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

" by

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 share ...

n statesmen because of the length of his 28-year internment. He was born in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

, on the

Adriatic coast The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

. President Topi bestowed the Nation's Honor Order upon Pjetër Arbnori (post mortem).

Biography

Arbnori was orphaned at the age of seven when his father was killed while fighting against

Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanians, Albanian communist politician who was the authoritarian ruler of Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was Secretary (title)#First secretary, First Secretary of t ...

's partisans during the civil war that underlay

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Although he earned a gold medal when he graduated from high school at the age of 18, this did not suffice to earn him the right to go on to college, because of his early affiliation, while still a boy, with the resistance fighters struggling against the

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

regime, together with his mother and two older sisters. After graduating, Arbnori found a job as a teacher. In a matter of a year, however, he was fired for political reasons. Once having completed his military service, young Arbnori roamed the mountains in search of a living, and started to labour in the fields as a farm hand. While holding down this job, he managed to enroll in 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 f ...

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

Department under fake documents, and succeeded in finishing a five-year correspondence course in half the time. In 1960, Arbnori began to teach literature at a school in the city of

Kavajë Kavajë ( , sq-definite, Kavaja) is a municipality centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania, in Tirana County. It borders Durrës to the north , Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south . To the west lies the Adriati ...

. Here he soon gathered together with other intellectuals to form a Social-Democratic movement, in the hope of edging forward towards a pluralistic society. The

Sigurimi The Directorate of State Security (), commonly called the ''Sigurimi'', was the state security, intelligence and secret police service of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Its proclaimed goal was maintaining state security of Albania, ...

(secret police) got wind of this and arrested seven of them. After a trial that lasted two years, which entailed lengthy interrogations and torture, he was sentenced to death. This verdict was subsequently commuted to 25 years' imprisonment, because the authorities hoped that Arbnori would eventually lead them to catching other ringleaders. In prison, Arbnori organized the inmates' protests and resistance. One of the ways he preserved his sanity was to write, at every opportunity he had. He would write in the tiniest possible lettering along the margins of the newspapers allotted to the prisoners to read. In this way, he put together a novel and many short stories, some of which have since been published. When his jail sentence was almost complete, his jailers added ten more years to it. The detention eventually ended in 1989. He was arrested at 26 and freed at the age of 54. His first job on being released was as an apprentice to a carpenter. It was in this last portion of his life that he married and had two children. Still unsubdued, Arbnori soon took part in the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...

movement that was defying the government, participating, less than five months after his release, in the anti-communist demonstration in

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 Shko ...

that overturned the statue of

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

. With the first free ballot, Arbnori was elected to Parliament, and was later re-elected three more times. He was elected twice to the position of

Chairman of the Parliament of Albania The Parliament of Albania ( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to a ...

from April 6, 1992 to July 24, 1997 and is also listed among the acting

Presidents of Albania This is a list of heads of state of Albania who have served since the Declaration of Independence of 1912. Since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991, the head of state of Albania is the President of the Republic ( sq, Presidenti i Re ...

, with reference to April 1992. In 1997, his party lost the elections to the

Socialist Party of Albania The Socialist Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Socialiste e Shqipërisë, PS or PSSh) is a social-democratic political party in Albania. It has been described as centre-left, to left-wing. It was founded on 13 June 1991. The PS is an associate of t ...

led by

Fatos Nano Fatos Nano (; born 16 September 1952) is an Albanian socialist politician who served as Prime Minister of Albania in 1991, from 1997 to 1998 and from 2002 to 2005. He was the first leader and founder of the Socialist Party of Albania and a member ...

. From the benches of the opposition, it soon became clear to Arbnori that there was a risk that the censorship that was customary under the old regime might be reinstated. Thus, when the state-owned television station refused to broadcast the statements and initiatives of the opposition party, he went on a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

. It was here that the fame of "the Mandela of the Balkans" claimed the attention of many governments of the Western world, whose support forced the majority coalition in Parliament to review its stance and approve a formal guarantee of the independence of the press from state interference. This became known as "the Arbnori Amendment". Arbnori died of a

brain hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

in Italy, in 2006. He left two orphaned children, still in their teens. The government of Albania, which had by then reverted to the

Democratic Party of Albania The Democratic Party of Albania ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSH) is a conservative political party in Albania. It has been the largest opposition party in the country since 2013. The Democratic Party of Albania was founde ...

, saluted him with an official state ceremony. Soon after his death, the Ministry of the Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports of Albania changed the name of Albania's main international cultural institution (International Center of Culture, formerly

museum, also called Piramida) from "International Center of Culture" to “International Center of Culture Pjetër Arbnori”. And then on May 25, 2007, QNK established the “Pjetër Arbnori Prize" for Literature”. The award is given annually to an Albanian or international author in recognition of their ongoing contribution to national and world literature,Pjetër Arbnori, Dissident writer
/ref> essentially equivalent to the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

Works

*''Nga jeta në burgjet komuniste'' (1992) *''Kur dynden vikingët'' (1993) *''Mugujt e mesjetës'' (1993) *''Bukuroshja me hijen'' (1994) *''Lettre de prison'' (1995) *''E bardha dhe e zeza'' (1995) *''E panjohura – Vdekja e Gebelsit'' (1996) *''Shtëpia e mbetur përgjysmë'' (1997) *''Vorbulla'' (1997) *''Brajtoni, një vetëtimë e largët'' (2000) *''Martiret e rinj në Shqiperi. 10300 ditë e net në burgjet komuniste'' (2004)

Bibliography

Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë 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 ...

(2008) (in Albanian), Fjalor Enciklopedik Shqiptar (Albanian encyclopedia),

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 ...

, *

Robert Elsie Robert Elsie (June 29, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was a Canadian-born German scholar who specialized in Albanian literature and folklore. Elsie was a writer, translator, interpreter, and specialist in Albanian studies, being the author of numerou ...

, ''Historical Dictionary of Albania, New Edition'', 2004, * Shefki Hysa, "The Diplomacy of self-denial" (Diplomacia e vetëmohimit), publicistic,

, 2008,

References

* P. Arbnori, ''Testimonianza cristiana e nuovi martiri in Europa'', in Tempi di Unità No.7 – 8, Ottobre 2006 – Maggio 2007. * R. Fidanzia, ''Relazione sull'Assemblea Generale dei Comitati per le Libertà. Roma 1-2-3 marzo 2003'' in Storiadelmondo n. 8, May 5, 2003
http://www.storiadelmondo.com/8/fidanzia.comitati.pdf

Sage Journals Online

Together in a front for the Cham ideal

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arbnori, Pjeter 1936 births 2006 deaths Speakers of the Parliament of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Albanian dissidents People from Durrës Albanian Roman Catholics Albanian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Albania Albanian writers

Biography

Works

Bibliography

External links

References