Ded Gjo Luli
| Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj / Ded Gjo Luli |
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 Photo of Ded Gjo Luli |
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| Born | 1840 Trabojin[1] (in modern Podgorica, Montenegro) |
| Died | September 24, 1915[1] Orosh[1] (in modern Mirditë District, Albania) |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Occupation | Army |
| Known for | Commander of the Malissori insurgents during the 1911 revolt |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
Dedë Gjon Luli Dedvukaj, known as Ded Gjo Luli (1840–1915), was one of the leading commanders of the Albanian Revolt of 1911, and is regarded a People's Hero of Albania.
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[edit] Life
[edit] Origin and early
Gjon was born to the Dedvukaj family in the village of Trabojin (Traboin, see Map (External link)), in the Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro, the region being inhabited by the ethnic Albanian Hoti clan[1] (wider Malësia), Roman Catholic by religion.
He took part in the League of Prizren, and when in August 1878, the Congress of Berlin ordered a border resolution between the Ottomans and Montenegrins, and the Albanians' successful resistance to the treaty forced the Great Powers to return Gusinje and Plav to the Ottoman Empire and grant Montenegro the mostly Albanian-populated coastal town of Ulcinj. Ded Gjo Luli took part in the resistance of Gusinje and Plav in 1879-1880.[1]
[edit] Revolt
Ded joined the Albanian Revolt of 1911, and became a chief commander of the rebel army. King Nikola Petrović of Montenegro supported the rebellion,[2] and compelled Ded Gjo Luli to summon the Albanian mountaineers to arms.[3] The main headquarters of the rebels was in Podgorica, as King Nikola had provided a refuge for the insurgents, and General Vukotić himself passed out weapons to them.[4] This was done in spite of Montenegro being officially neutral.[4]
The Malissori numbered some 8,000 soldiers, and Nikola sent them across his frontier to attack Ottoman divisions.[3] Shefket Turgut Pasha was sent against the insurgents several times, most notably in the Battle of Deçiq, where the Malissori defeated the Ottoman division. At the conclusion of the battle, the Albanian flag was symbolically raised on the Bratile mountain for the first time in 442 years of Ottoman occupation (since the fall of Shkodër, in 1479).[5]
He died while fighting an Ottoman contingent on September 24, 1915, in Orosh, Albania.
[edit] Legacy
Ded is most known for starting the revolution for the Albanians, which eventually led to later actions by Luigj Gurakuqi, Ismail Qemali, and Isa Boletini.
In Tirana, Albania's capital city, there is a street named in his honor called "Rruga Ded Gjo Luli". In the village of Bardhaj in Hot, the rubble of his house, that was left in ruins after the war, was converted into a museum which represents his life as a hero to the Albanian people.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e Fishta, p. 439
- ^ Vickers 1999, pp. 63, 64
- ^ a b Pearson, p. 14
- ^ a b Treadway 1983, p. 75
- ^ Nikprelaj, Gjergj (5 January 2006). "DEDE GJO LULI, MBROJTESI FISNIK I TROJEVE SHQIPTARE" (in Albanian). Koha Jone (Koco Kokedhima). http://www.shkoder.net/fjala/2006/ded_gjo_luli.htm. Retrieved 20 September 2010.
[edit] External links
[edit] Further reading
- Treadway, John D (1983), "The Malissori Uprising of 1911", The Falcon and Eagle: Montenegro and Austria-Hungary, 1908-1914, West Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, ISBN 9780911198652, OCLC 9299144, http://books.google.com/books?id=JVJUk2cHkDcC&pg=PA74, retrieved October 10, 2011
- Vickers, Miranda (1999). The Albanians: a modern history. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 978-1860645419. http://books.google.com/books?id=IzI0uOZ2j6gC&pg=PA63.
- Pearson, "Albania in the twentieth century: a history, Volume 3"
- The highland lute: (Lahuta e malcís) : the Albanian national epic By Gjergj Fishta, Robert Elsie, Janice Mathie-Heck, Centre for Albanian Studies (London, England) Publisher: I.B. Tauris 2005 ISBN 1845111184 [1]
