Vasil Laçi, People's Hero of Albania, also referred to as Vasil Llaçi Comando Superiore Carabinieri Reali dell Albania - document of 25 May 1941 (15 September 1922 – 27 May 1941), was an Albanian patriot and anti-monarchistShqip on Vasil Laçi
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Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...

King of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...

and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, Prime Minister of Albania after the occupation of Albania by fascist Italy.

Early life

Vasil Laçi was born in the village of Piqeras in southern Albania near the city of

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

on 15 September 1922, son of Mihal Laçi and Vitori. His father died at the age of 30, while Vasil was still a child. He spent his childhood in Piqeras, where he studied in the local elementary school. In 1933-1935 he worked in

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

as a

stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...

. In 1936 he moved to

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, capital of Albania, after being invited to work there.Owen Pearson, ''Albania in Occupation and War: From Fascism to Communism 1940-1945'', 2006, p.153, The Italian invasion found him in Tirana. There he developed relations with patriotic groups, and helped several of their members escape from the Italian troops and police. He worked initially as a dishwasher, and later as a servant. His cousin Kolë Llaçi was member of the Communist Group of

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

(where he had migrated) and died in September 1941 in the prison of Voskopojë after being arrested by the Italians. The Fascist military reports states that "Llaçi had communist ideas and he had been in contact with communist literature".

Assassination attempt against Victor Emmanuel III

Victor Emmanuel III decided to visit Albania on April 12, 1941 and he arrived one month later, after being reassured by the Italian fascist police of Tirana that all security measures had been taken. Laçi found out about Victor Emmanuel's visit to Albania 15 days before his arrival on May 2, 1941. He got a job at the Hotel International where Victor Emmanuel would stay, and borrowed a Beretta M1915 pistol from Pëllumb Koka, another Albanian patriot. On May 17, 1941 the 19-year-old Laçi, wearing an Albanian national costume, attacked the car in which Victor Emmanuel and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, Prime Minister of Albania were travelling accompanied by the ministers of the government. He fired four shots towards them while shouting "Long live Albania! Down with fascism", but failed to hit anyone. After the assassination attempt, the Italian sources in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

accused

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 ...

of being behind Laçi and called him a "Greek-Macedonian named Mihailoff Vasillaci" (''di origine grecomacedone'').

Aftermath and legacy

Laçi was arrested immediately and executed by hanging ten days later. The Italian fascist government attributed his attack to economic issues he had with Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, to prevent possible uprisings of the Albanian people. Laçi was one of the first people to posthumously receive the People's Hero of Albania award from the Albanian government. His assassination attempt was documented in a book, which was adapted for the 1980 movie ''Bullets for the Imperator'' (). A monument to Laçi stands in Tirana.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laci, Vasil 1922 births 1941 deaths 1941 crimes People executed by Italy by hanging Executed Albanian people Albanian anti-fascists Failed regicides Heroes of Albania Executed failed assassins People from Himara