Shefqet Vërlaci

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci
21th Prime Minister of Albania
In office 12 April 1939 – 4 December 1941
Preceded by	Kostaq Kota
Succeeded by	Mustafa Merlika-Kruja
Personal details
Born	(1877-12-15)December 15, 1877 Elbasan, Albania (then Ottoman Empire)
Died	July 21, 1946(1946-07-21) (aged 68) Zurich, Switzerland
Political party	Progressive Party of Albania Albanian Fascist Party
Profession	Prime Minister
Religion	Sunni Muslim

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci (December 15, 1877, Elbasan, Ottoman Empire – July 21, 1946, Zürich, Switzerland) was Prime Minister of Albania in 1924 and during the Italian occupation from 1939 to 1941.

Biography

Verlaci's name also is found under the forms Vërlaci, Verlaçi, Verlaxhi, and Velaxhi. His first name also is written in various forms, including Shevket, as on his gravestone. His name probably has distant Venetian roots, from the Renaissance times of Albania Veneta.^{[citation needed]}

In 1922, Verlaci was the biggest landowner of Albania. He was the leader of the Progressive Party, the biggest conservative party in Albania, which firmly opposed any agrarian reform reducing the landowners' property. The Progressive Party included some North Albanian clan chiefs and prominent Muslim landowners as its members.

In late 1922, Ahmed Zogu became engaged to Verlaci's daughter, winning Verlaci's support and the position of Prime Minister.

In early 1924, Zogu was forced to cede his position of Prime Minister to Verlaci, because of a financial scandal and an attempt of assassination in which Zogu was injured. The date of Verlaci taking the position of prime minister is March 5, 1924 (some sources cite other dates in February or March). Verlaci held this position until June 2 (or June 10), and then fled to Italy. During Fan Noli's regime that followed, a special tribunal created by the government condemned Verlaci to death in absentia along with the confiscation of all his property.

When Zogu was crowned in 1928, he immediately broke his engagement with Verlaci's daughter. Verlaci thus became King Zog's mortal enemy.

On April 12, 1939, after the Italian invasion of Albania, Verlaci became the prime minister of the government of Albania formed under the Italian occupation. From April 12 through April 16 (until Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III accepted the Albanian crown), Verlaci was the acting head of state.

Verlaci supported Albania's claim to ethnic Albanian-inhabited areas in Yugoslavia and Greece.

On November 28, 1939 there was an anti-Italian, anti-Fascist and anti-government street demonstration in Tirana, supported by a strike of industrial and transport workers.

Verlaci remained at the head of the government until December 4 (other sources cite November 10 or December 3), 1941.

He died in 1946 in Zürich, Switzerland, and is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.

References

Political offices
Preceded by Ahmet Zogu	Prime Minister of Albania March 5, 1924 – June 2, 1924	Succeeded by Iliaz Vrioni
Preceded by Koço Kota	Prime Minister of Albania April 12, 1939 – December 4, 1941	Succeeded by Mustafa Merlika-Kruja

See also

• History of Albania