Hasan Dosti Explained

Hasan Dosti
Nationality:Albanian
Children:Victor Dosti
Profession:Lawyer, politician
Alma Mater:University of Paris
Order:Minister of Justice
Term Start:December 12, 1941
Term End:January 19, 1943[1]
Birth Date:1895
Birth Place:Kardhiq, Ottoman Empire
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Signature:Hasan Dosti (nënshkrim).svg

Hasan Dosti (1895January 29, 1991) was an Albanian jurist and politician. He was the leader of the Balli Kombëtar after the war and was considered by the communists to be one of Albania's greatest enemies.[2]

Biography

Early life

Hasan Dosti was born in Albania (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the village of Kardhiq near Gjirokastra, to Elmaz Aga of the Dosti branch of Muslim Albanian Tosk household Dosti-Hajdaragaj.[3] [4] Back then the village was part of the Ottoman Empire and belonged to the Vilayet of Janina with majority Albanian population. He attended the schools in Filippiada and the Philosophy Zosimaia School in Ioannina.[5] His family moved to Vlora after World War I, where Dosti met Avni Rustemi. Dosti then moved to Paris to complete his tertiary education at the faculty of law of the University of Paris.[5] After graduating, he returned to Albania to work as a lawyer.[5] In the 1920s he served a member of court of cassation of Albania under Thoma Orollogaj, who was the minister of justice at the time.

Opposition to monarchy

An opponent of Ahmet Zogu, he was imprisoned several times. From 1932 to 1935 he was sentenced to prison because of his participation in the Movement of Vlorë, an anti-monarchist organization founded by Dosti himself and Skënder Muço among others. In the late 1930s he organized an assassination plot against leading Italian and Albanian fascists.[6]

Balli Kombëtar

In 1941 he initially became Minister of Justice in Mustafa Merlika-Kruja's cabinet under Italian occupation; however, in 1943 Dosti defected and joined the Balli Kombëtar.[7]

Death

Hasan Dosti died at the age of 96. He had eight children, Luan, of Los Angeles, an aerospace engineer; and seven others who remained in Albania, including Shano Sokoli, Viktor Dosti, Tomorr Dosti, Ernest Dosti and Veronika Dine who spent their lives under Albania's Stalinist regime in labor camps and prisons.[8]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Neuwirth, Hubert. Widerstand und Kollaboration in Albanien 1939–1944. 12 February 2012. 2008. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. 978-3-447-05783-7. 259.
  2. Book: Albania: from anarchy to a Balkan identity. 1997. Hurst. Miranda Vickers, James Pettifer. registration. ... whose father Hasan Dosti had been the leader of the BK after the war and was considered by the communists to be one of Albania's greatest enemies.. 31 March 2012.
  3. Rozi Dosti. Hasan Dosti akuzoi agjentin Kim Filbi per vdekjen e njerëzve të tij në Shqipëri. Fatos Veliu. 30 January 2013. Gazeta Shqiptare. 5894. 20–21.
  4. Book: Vlora, Eqrem bej. Lebenserinnerungen. Kujtime 1885-1925. Eqrem bej Vlora. IDK. 2003. 99927-780-6-7. Tiranë. 583. Afrim Koçi.
  5. Book: Historical dictionary of Albania. Robert Elsie. I.B.Tauris. 2010. 116. 31 March 2012. 9780810873803.
  6. Book: Aldrich, Richard James. The hidden hand: Britain, America, and Cold War secret intelligence. 12 February 2012. 2002. Overlook Press. 978-1-58567-274-5. 162.
  7. Book: Fischer, Bernd Jürgen. Albania at war, 1939–1945. 12 February 2012. 1999. Hurst. 978-1-85065-531-2. 116.
  8. https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/31/obituaries/hasan-dosti-96-dies-ex-official-in-albania.html New York Times: Hasan Dosti, 96, Dies; Ex-Official in Albania