Sejfulla Malëshova (2 March 1900 – 9 June 1971) was an

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 ...

n politician, writer and translator. He was an early member of the Communist leadership in post-

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 opposing ...

Albania and served as the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) * Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) *Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

and Propaganda.

Biography

Malëshova was born in

Këlcyrë Këlcyrë ( sq-definite, Këlcyra) is a town and a municipality in southern Albania, located on the bank of the river Vjosë. It was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Ballaban, Dishnicë, Këlcyr ...

. He was educated 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 foo ...

and later studied medicine in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In 1924, a 23-year-old Malëshova became Fan Noli's personal secretary. After Noli's government was overthrown, Malëshova fled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, where he joined

KONARE Konare may refer to: People * Alpha Oumar Konaré Alpha Oumar Konaré (born 2 February 1946) is a Malian politician, who served as President of Mali for two five-year terms from 1992 to 2002 and was Chairperson of the African Union Commission ...

, a revolutionary organization founded by Albanian leftists. He went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

and

Leningrad Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

with a delegation of the group where he translated the '' Communist Manifesto'' into Albanian. In 1930–1932, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but was subsequently expelled as a Bukharinist. He became a charter member of the Albanian Communist Party and a member of its Politburo prior until 1946. After Moscow, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

where other Albanian revolutionaries like Llazar Fundo had settled. There was a rivalry between the two and twice Malëshova denounced Fundo as a

Bukharinist The Right Opposition (, ''Pravaya oppozitsiya'') or Right Tendency (, ''Praviy uklon'') in the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was a conditional label formulated by Joseph Stalin in fall of 1928 in regards the opposition against certain me ...

. In 1938, after the Comintern ordered Fundo's death, Malëshova attempted to murder him with an axe. He used to appear as a self-proclaimed rebel poet of the

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics ...

against the Italian and German occupying armies in Albania, and became known by his pen name, Lame Kodra. In 1945, he was appointed Minister of Culture and Propaganda. In the same year, he was elected president of the newly founded

League of Writers and Artists of Albania The League of Writers and Artists of Albania () is a non-profit organization founded with the goal of promoting and advancing the literary and artistic creativity of Albanian writers and artists, as well as to assess and reassess the finest works ...

, which consisted of 74 members initially, with several non-communist intellectuals among them. The League took over the publication of well-known Albanian literature Drita magazine. Malëshova had emerged as a moderate communist, often inviting publications without regard to their ideological content, which earned him the wrath of Enver Hoxha, particularly after an appeal by the Writers League to

Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

and Clement Attlee for Western recognition of

. In 1946,

Koçi Xoxe Koçi Xoxe (pronounced ; 1 May 1911 – 11 June 1949) was an Albanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. He was supported by Yugoslav leader Josip Broz ...

, working under orders from

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

purged a number of members of the party, including Malëshova, who was denounced as a "right-wing opportunist". In 1947, he was tried for subversive activities and imprisoned. After leaving prison, Malëshova spent the rest of his life as a warehouseman in

Fier Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri) is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjos ...

, shunned by almost all his fellow citizens. If anyone dared speak to him, he would pinch his lips with his fingers, to remind them of the vow of eternal silence which would ensure his survival. He died there, an outcast, in 1971. His funeral was attended only by his sister, the gravedigger and two

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, ...

agents.Albanian literature: a short history By Robert Elsie, Centre for Albanian Studies (London, England) pp. 163-164

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maleshova, Sejfulla 1900 births 1971 deaths People from Këlcyrë People from Janina vilayet Labour Party of Albania politicians Members of the Parliament of Albania 20th-century Albanian poets Albanian-language poets Russian–Albanian translators Albanian male poets Albanian dissidents Government ministers of Albania Culture ministers of Albania