Ali Demi
Ali Demi | |
---|---|
Born | Filiates, Greece | 18 January 1918
Died | 19 December 1943 Vlorë, Albania | (aged 25)
Buried | |
Allegiance | LANÇ |
Awards | Hero of the People |
Ali Demi (18 January 1918 – 29 December 1943) was an Albanian hero of World War II and a communist,[1][2] born in Filiates, Greece. He was killed in battle fighting German forces in Vlora, Albania in 1943. [3]
Biography
He was born in Filiates, Greece. Later Ali Demi studied at the Lyceum, in Tirana, Albania and in 1939 he participated in antifascist demonstrations. He was also one of the founders of the Communist party of Albania. He was sentenced to death by Italian forces but managed to escape and joined partisan forces. In 1943 he was killed in a battle fighting German forces in Vlora, Albania.
Aftermath
In May 1944, the Greek People's Liberation Army formed and named a mixed unit of both Greeks and Cham Albanians in his honor, the IV "Ali Demi" battalion of 15th regiment.[4]
Ali Demi Street and Ali Demi (neighborhood) in Tirana, are named after him.
References
- ^ Balkan Newspaper Archived April 30, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ article of Tirana Observer newspaper[permanent dead link]
- ^ [1] A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History By Robert Elsie, pages 101-2.
- ^ "...in May 1944 ”a mixed battalion of the Cham minority that was formed within ELAS-fighting units under the command of the 15th regiment in the village of Kastanjë”, was named “Ali Demi” and comprised in the time of its formation 460 men..." Kretsi, Georgia: Verfolgung und Gedächtnis in Albanien: Eine Analyse postsozialistischer Erinnerungsstrategien, ISBN 3-447-05544-8