Prek Cali
Prek Cali | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 29 July 1872[1] Vermosh, Scutari Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (now Albania) |
| Died | 25 March 1945 (aged 72) Shkodër, Albania |
| Place of burial | Kelmend |
| Years of service | 1908–1945 |
| Rank | Commander |
| Commands | Kelmend |
| Battles / wars | Albanian revolt of 1908 Albanian revolt of 1911 Albania during the Balkan Wars Uprising in Montenegro |
Prek Cali (29 July 1872 – 25 March 1945), Prenk Cali or Preng Cali, was an Albanian bajraktar ("standard-bearer") of Vermosh, part of the Kelmendi tribe of northern Albania. He was a veteran of the Albanian uprisings and the Balkan Wars. He was executed by Yugoslav Partisans in 1945.[2]
Early life and rebellions
[edit]Cali was born in Vermosh, part of the Kelmendi tribe, at the time part of the Scutari Vilayet (now northern Albania). He became the bajraktar ("flag-bearer") of Kelmendi.[3]
After the fall of Fan S. Noli's cabinet (1928), Cali came in conflict with King Ahmet Zogu.[4] He led his tribe against Montenegrin forces.[4]
World War II
[edit]Plav and Gusinje
[edit]At the beginning of World War II Prek Cali had between 200[5] and 1,200[6] armed men around Vermosh under his command. His forces took control over Plav and Gusinje in 1941, before Italian forces occupied it.[7]
Cali participated in the Italian counter-offensive in August 1941, crushing the Uprising in Montenegro. Italian General Alessandro Pirzio Biroli reported that Albanian forces from Vermosh commanded by Cali supported Division Venezia that advanced from Podgorica to insurgent-controlled Kolašin and Andrijevica and re-occupied them despite fierce resistance.[8]
Death
[edit]By the end of the war, the main military and political force of the country, the Albanian Communist Partisans, concentrated towards the north of Albania in order to destroy the anti-Communist forces and to eliminate their rivals. They met an open resistance in Nikaj-Mërtur (now in Tropojë District), Dukagjin and Kelmend, whose chieftains were openly anti-Communists. On 15 January 1945, a battle between the 1st Brigade Partisans (supported later by the 23rd and 24th brigades plus Yugoslav Partisan forces) and anti-Communist forces was fought at the Tamara Bridge. The Partisans had 52 losses. About 150 Kelmendi people were killed. Their leader Prek Cali was surrounded in a cave in Vukël for a week, after which he surrendered. He was executed by the Communists on the feast day of Palm Sunday.[9][unreliable source?]
Legacy
[edit]After fall of communism in Albania, Prëk Cali was decorated and honored with the Medal "Martyr of Democracy" in 1993 by President of Albania Sali Berisha.[10] Seven years later, in 2010, then-current President of Albania Bujar Nishani honored him with Order "Honor of Nation".[11] In 2000 the monument of Prek Cali was set put in Shkodër.[12]
Controversy
[edit]Mehdi Frashëri, the Prime Minister of Albania's Quisling government under Nazi Germany, believed that after Cali's death, Albanian and Yugoslav communists disseminated stories about Prëk Cali being a fascist, enemy of Albania, and secret supporter of Chetniks. Frashëri believed such accounts were untrue because Cali and his whole family fought together with the Kelmendi tribe against 800 Serbian partisans, and in August 1912 protected the northern borders of Albania.[13] Luigj Martini also believes that the claims of cooperation between Chetniks and Cali is Albanian-Yugoslavian communist propaganda.[14]
Literature
[edit]
Mihailo Lalić (1914–1992) mentioned Cali in his short story Posljednje brdo (1967)[15] and novel Pramen Tame (1979),[16] and included him in his collection of memoirs.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ Martini 2005, p. 66.
- ^ Pepa, Pjetër (2003). The Criminal File of Albania's Communist Dictator. Uegen. p. 360. ISBN 9789992754276.
- ^ Neuwirth, Hubert (2008). Widerstand und Kollaboration in Albanien 1939-1944. Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 216. ISBN 978-3-447-05783-7.
... Prenk Cali, dem Bajraktar von Vermosh...(Prenk Cali, the Bayraktar of Vermosh)
- ^ a b Zef Pllumi (2008). Live to Tell: A True Story of Religious Persecution in Communist Albania. Vol. 1, 1944–1951. IUniverse, Inc. p. 12. ISBN 978-0595452989.
..and who had led Kelmendi people against the Montenegrins... He also led them in opposing King Zog, insisting that Kelmendi remain Kelmendi, without having to submit to anybody
- ^ Borozan, Đorđe (1995). Velika Albanija: poreklo - ideje - praksa. Vojnoizdavački insitut Vojske. p. 503.
- ^ Zbornik dokumenata i podataka o narodnooslobodilačkom ratu naroda Jugoslavija. Belgrade: Vojnoistorijski institut. 1969. p. 203.
...са Пренк Цалем налази се око Врмоше око 1.200 бораца
- ^ Kostić, Dušan (1954). Krajevi i ljudi. Narodna knjiga. p. 27.
- ^ Gobeti, Erik. "CRNA GORA U OČIMA PIRCIJA BIROLIJA AVGUSTA 1941" (PDF). Matica (in Montenegrin) (Winter 2011). Matica Crnogorska: 445. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- ^ Markus W. E. Peters (31 October 2003), Geschichte der Katholischen Kirche in Albanien 1919-1993, Harrassowitz Verlag, p. 144, ISBN 978-3447047845,
Und am 25 März, so der Päpstliche Gesandte, werden auf dem katholischen Friedhof der katholische Menschenrechtler Prek Cali und der Pfarrer Dom Ndre Zadeja zusammen mit drei muslimischen Intellektuellen der Stadt erschossen.(According to the envoys of the Pope, on March 25th the catholic human rights activist Prek Cali and the priest Dom Ndre Zadeja were shot on the catholic graveyard together with 3 of the town's Muslim intellectuals)
- ^ Klajd Kapinova (8 July 2005), Historitë e pavdekshme të Bacës së Kelmendit Prekë Pjetër Cali (1872 - 1945) (in Albanian), Trepca.net, archived from the original on 7 March 2014, retrieved 23 January 2014,
...Martiri i Demokracisë: Prek Pjetri (Cali) Hasanaj...[Martyr of Democracy - Prek Pjeter (Cali) Hasanaj]
- ^ Frank Shkreli, Kelmendi, Nderi i Kombit [Kelmendi, Honor of the Nation] (in Albanian), Kosova.com, archived from the original on 2 February 2014, retrieved 23 January 2014,
Presidenti Nishani ia dorëzoi Këlmendit – fisit të luftëtarit legjendar Prek Cali - dekoratën Nderi i Kombit gjatë aktivitetit artistik dhe kulturor (President Nishani handed over the decoration Honor of the Nation to the Kelemendi - tribe of legendary fighter Prek Cali)
- ^ Gjovalin Bzheta. Monumenti i Prek Calit Shkoder 2000-Fjala e Gjovalin Bzheta [The monument of Prek Cali in Shkoder, 2000 - Gjovalin Bzheta's speech] (YouTube) (in Albanian).
- ^ Mehdi Frashëri (2005). Kujtime: vitet 1913-1933. OMSCA-1. p. 185. ISBN 9789992752609.
- ^ Martini 2005, p. 68.
- ^ Lalić, Mihailo (1967). Posljednje brdo: Pripovetke. p. 211.
... води Пренк Цал>о католике од Врмоше и Вусан>це да се нашьач^у и прославе; да иза н>их не заостане,
- ^ Lalić, Mihailo (1979). Pramen tame: roman. Nolit. p. 44.
Lijevom stranom, Zeletinom, vodi Prenk Caljo klimenačke palikuće iz Vrmoše da se osvete što su dugih dvadeset godina bili prinuđeni da žive bez pljačke.
- ^ Mihailo Lalić (1983). Sabrana dela Mihaila Lalića: . Dokle gora zazeleni. Nolit.
Sources
[edit]- Blumi, Isa (2011). Reinstating the Ottomans: Alternative Balkan Modernities, 1800-1912. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-11908-6.
- Marović, Miodrag (1995). Balkanski Džoker: Albanija i Albanci : istorijska hronika nastajanja i razvoja albanskog pitanja. Kulturni centar. ISBN 9788670040052.
- Martini, Luigj (2005). Prek Cali, Kelmendi dhe kelmendasit. Camaj-Pipaj. ISBN 978-99943-34-07-0.
- Milovanović, Nikola B.; Kljaković, Vojmir (1985). Draža Mihailović. Centar za informacije i publicitet.
- Narod andrijevičkog sreza (1978). VATRE sa Komova: Narod andrijevičkog sreza u NOP 1941-1945. Mjesni odbor SUBNORA-a.
- Pajović, Radoje (1987). Pavle Đurišić (in Serbo-Croatian). Zagreb, Yugoslavia: Centar za informacije i publicitet. ISBN 978-86-7125-006-1.
- Pajović, Radoje (1977). Kontrarevolucija u Crnoj Gori: Četnički i federalistički pokret 1941–1945 (in Serbo-Croatian). Cetinje, Yugoslavia: Obod.
- Redžić, Vučeta (2002). Građanski rat u Crnoj Gori: Dešavanja od sredine 1942. godine do sredine 1945. godine. Stupovi.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
- 1872 births
- 1945 deaths
- People from Malësi e Madhe
- People from Scutari vilayet
- Albanian Roman Catholics
- Activists of the Albanian National Awakening
- Albanian anti-communists
- Executed Albanian collaborators with Fascist Italy
- Executed Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany
- 19th-century Albanian military personnel
- 20th-century Albanian people
- People killed by Yugoslav Partisans