Luigj Bumçi (7 November 1872 – 1 March 1945) was an

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 ...

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

religious and political figure.

Life

Dom Luigj Bumçi was born in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

, back then in the Scutari Vilayet 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 ...

, on 7 November 1872 in an Albanian Catholic family. He was the nephew of writer and Rilindas Pashko Vasa. Bumçi trained for the priesthood in his native town and, in January 1912, was made bishop of

Lezhë Lezhë (, sq-definite, Lezha) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and seat of Lezhë County and Lezhë Municipality. It is one of Albania's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously i ...

. In 1918, he participated in the Congress of Durrës and was elected Minister without Portfolio in the government of Turhan Pasha that came out of the congress. In 1919, he was sent by the government to preside over the Albanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. He intermediated through the

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

Benedict XV for opposing the Venizelos–Tittoni agreement for partitioning of Albania between

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. He also participated in the Congress of Lushnje in January 1920 and, as a representative of the Catholic community, was elected to the four-member High Regency Council (). Together with Aqif Pasha Biçaku he took part in a coup d’état in December 1921 and was later relieved of his duties on the High Council by Ahmet Zogu. Thereafter, with some advice from

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Geography * Vatican City, an independent city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy * Vatican Hill, in Rome, namesake of Vatican City * Ager Vaticanus, an alluvial plain in Rome * Vatican, an unincorporated community in the ...

, Bumçi withdrew from politics and returned to his ecclesiastical duties. He kept close relationship with Gjergj Fishta and

Luigj Gurakuqi Luigj Gurakuqi (19 February 1879 – 2 March 1925), also called Louis Gurakuchi, was an Albanians, Albanian writer and politician. He was an important figure of the Albanian National Awakening and was honored with the People's Hero of Albania ...

. He lobbied a lot for enabling Gurakuqi to enter the Assembly of Albania. He was arrested by the communist authorities right after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Tired of age and interrogations he died on 1 March 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bumci, Luigj 1872 births 1945 deaths Religious leaders from Shkodër People from Scutari vilayet 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Albania 20th-century Albanian politicians Government ministers of Albania Albanian nationalists Government of Durrës Roman Catholic bishops of Lezhë

Life

See also

References