This article is a list of notable people from

Vlorë Vlorë ( ; ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, third most populous city of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surr ...

in southern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

Business

Sinan Idrizi Sinan Idrizi (born 20 July 1968) is an Albanian businessman who is the major shareholder of Air Albania and is also the president of Albanian football club Flamurtari FC. He first started business in 1993, trading goods from Turkey. In 2014 he be ...

– businessman and major shareholder of

Air Albania Air Albania is the flag carrier of Albania. The airline maintains its hub and company headquarters at the Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza in Tirana, Albania. Founded in 2018, it serves eleven destinations in Europe. History Early ...

, Albania’s flag carrier. *

Mira Murati Ermira "Mira" Murati (born 16 December 1988) is an Albanian business executive. She launched in February 2025 an AI startup called Thinking Machines Lab. She previously served as chief technology officer of OpenAI from May 2022 to September 20 ...

– CTO and interim CEO of

OpenAI OpenAI, Inc. is an American artificial intelligence (AI) organization founded in December 2015 and headquartered in San Francisco, California. It aims to develop "safe and beneficial" artificial general intelligence (AGI), which it defines ...

Politics

Ismail Qemali Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Kemal, (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Independent Albania, Albania. He served as the first Prime Minister of Albania, prime minister o ...

– Albanian Independence Movement * Ali Asllani – Poet and diplomat *

Mehmed Ferid Pasha Mehmed Ferid Pasha () (, ; 1851, Yanya, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Ioannina, Greece) – 1914, Sanremo, Kingdom of Italy) was an Ottoman-Albanian statesman. He served as the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire from 15 January 1903 until 22 July ...

–

Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...

of the Ottoman Empire *

Skënder Gjinushi Skënder Gjinushi (born 24 December 1949 in Vlorë, Albania) is an Albanian politician and academic. He has served in several high-ranking positions in the Albanian government, including as Speaker of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister. He found ...

– Politician * Qazim Koculi – Albanian Independence Movement *

Lütfi Pasha Lütfi Pasha (, ''Luṭfī Paşa''; Modern Turkish: ''Lütfi Paşa'', more fully ''Damat Çelebi Lütfi Paşa''; 1488 – 27 March 1564, Didymoteicho) was an Ottoman Albanian statesman, general, and Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Sule ...

–

of the Ottoman Empire *

Arben Malaj Arben Malaj (born 19 September 1961 in the city of Vlora, Albania) has been Minister of Finance and Economy in the Republic of Albania different times from 1997 until 2005. He is known for transforming the Albanian economy into a European profil ...

– Politician *

Manush Myftiu Manush Myftiu (16 January 1919 – 20 October 1997) was an Albanian politician during the country's socialist period. He served in a number of positions, most recently as the deputy prime minister. Early life Myftiu was born in Vlora to a ...

– Albanian Communist Politician * Harilla Papajorgji – Politician * Kemankeş Mustafa Pasha –

of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Eqrem Vlora Eqrem Bey Vlora (1 December 1885 – 30 March 1964) was an Albanian lord, politician, writer, and one of the delegates to the Assembly of Vlorë, which proclaimed the Albanian Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912. He is described as ...

– Albanian Independence Movement * Syrja Vlora – Albanian Independence Movement signatory and major Albanian landowner

Religious leaders

* Ahmet Myftar – 6th

Dedebaba Bektashi Dedebabate is the religious leadership of Bektashi Islam. The term ''Dedebaba'' comes from Turkish and means "The grandfather.'" The dedebabas () are the spiritual and religious leaders of the Bektashi community. Bektashis do not conside ...

of the

Bektashi Order Bektashism (, ) is a Sufi order of Islam that evolved in 13th-century western Anatolia and became widespread in the Ottoman Empire. It is named after the ''walī'' "saint" Haji Bektash Veli, with adherents called Bektashis. The Bektashi co ...

(born in Brataj,

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; ) is one of the 12 counties of Albania with the city of Vlorë being the county capital. The county spans and has a total population of 146,681 people as of 2023. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastër, as well as th ...

) *

Baba Mondi Edmond Brahimaj ( Albanian: Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj, born 19 May 1959), commonly known as Baba Mondi, is an Albanian religious leader and the eighth Bektashi Dedebaba (or Kryegjysh) of the Bektashi Order. He is the leader of the Bektashi M ...

– Bektashi World Leader and Albanian Bektashi Cleric

Cinema

Kristaq Mitro Kristaq Mitro (1 December 1945 – 3 April 2023) was an Albanian film director. He was a professor at University of Arts, Tirana. He directed '' Apasionata'' in 1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile ...

– Film director * Ibrahim Muçaj – Film director * Drita Pelingu – film and stage actress *

Orli Shuka Orli Shuka (born 27 May 1976) is a British-Albanian actor best known for his role as Luan, head of the Albanian mafia Albanian mafia or Albanian organized crime () are the general terms used for criminal organizations based in Albania or com ...

- British-Albanian actor born in Vlorë. *

Agim Shuka Agim Shuka (29 April 1942 – May 20, 1992) was an Albanian actor known for playing numerous roles in films and theaters. Early life and Family origins Agim Shuka was born in April of 1942 in Kuçovë, Albania, which is in the Berat county. He ...

- (April 1942–May 20, 1992) Was a famous Albanian film and stage actor. Lived in Vlore for 16 years and was educated and became a teacher there, also where his two kids were born. * Dhimiter Anagnosti - Film director * Albert Verria - Actor, Comedian * Leonard Bombaj - Film director *

Nik Xhelilaj Kreshnik Xhelilaj (born 5 March 1983), known professionally as Nik Xhelilaj, is an Albanian-born Turkish actor. He began his international career with the film The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider, directed by Piro Milkani and Eno Milkani, and has st ...

- Actor

Musicians

* Alban Skenderaj – Singer *

Aurela Gaçe Aurela Gaçe (; born 16 October 1974) is an Albanian singer-songwriter, actress and television personality. Her music career made her to be called as the diva of South Albania. Awards A three-time Festivali i Këngës winner, a three-time K ...

– Singer *

Kristaq Paspali Kristaq Paspali (19 May 1926 – 2001) was an Albanian operatic tenor. Early life Paspali was born in 1926 in Vlorë. When he was still very young, he had to leave school because of economic hardship during the Italian occupation of Albania, b ...

– Operatic tenor * Elsa Lila – Singer * Josif Gjipali – Tenor * Shpetim Kushta – Composer * Anita Bitri – Singer * Nina Muho – Operatic singer * Oleg Arapi – Dirigent *

Ermonela Jaho Ermonela Jaho (born July 18, 1974) is an Albanian operatic soprano. She was described in ''The Economist'' as "the world’s most acclaimed soprano". The ''Financial Times'' said "Ermonela Jaho throws heart and soul into her singing... Don't eve ...

– Soprano* Adrian Hila-Composer

Sports

Sokol Kushta Sokol Kushta (born 17 April 1964) is an Albanian retired football player, who was arguably one of his country's best players in the latter half of the 1980s and the early 1990s and one of the first to be allowed by the communist party to play ab ...

– Former football player of Partizani, Flamurtari and of Albania's national team *

Viktor Mitrou Viktor Mitrou (; born 24 June 1973) is a retired male Greek weightlifter. He initially represented Albania, but became internationally distinguished with the Greece national team. Mitrou won a Silver Medal for Greece in the 2000 Summer Olympics. ...

– Weightlifter * Perlat Musta – Former football goalkeeper of Partizani's team, and of Albania's national team * Geri Cipi – Former football player of Albania's national team * Igli Tare – Former football player of Albania's national team * Suela Mëhilli – Alpinist * Bejkush Birce – Trainer * Vasil Ruci – Football player *

Alban Bushi Alban Bushi (born 20 August 1973) is an Albanian professional association football, football coach and former player who is the Manager (association football), manager of Albania national under-21 football team, Albania under-21 and Albania nati ...

– Football player *

Ervin Skela Ervin Skela (born 17 November 1976) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He played the majority of his career in Germany, but he also played in Albania as well as Italy and Poland briefly. He is fourth most ...

– Football player

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:People from Vlorë, List of