| Fadil Hoxha | |
|---|---|
| 2nd President of Kosovo | |
| In office 11 July 1945 – 20 February 1953 |
|
| Succeeded by | Ismet Saqiri |
| 8th President of Kosovo | |
| In office 24 June 1967 – 7 May 1969 |
|
| Preceded by | Stanoje Akšić |
| Succeeded by | Ilaz Kurteshi |
| 1st Prime Minister of Kosovo | |
| In office 1945–1963 |
|
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Ali Shukrija |
| Vice-President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia | |
| In office 1978–1979 |
|
| Preceded by | Stevan Doronjski |
| Succeeded by | Lazar Koliševski |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 March 1916 Đakovica, Kingdom of Serbia (in today's Kosovo[a]) |
| Died | 23 April 2001 (aged 85) Pristina, Kosovo (at the time a province of Yugoslavia under UN administration) |
| Nationality | Yugoslav (Albanian) |
| Political party | League of Communists of Yugoslavia |
| Occupation | Teacher, Partisan, statesman |
| Religion | None (Atheist) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia |
| Service/branch | Yugoslav People's Army |
| Years of service | 1941–1945 |
| Rank | commander |
| Commands | Yugoslav Partisans |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Fadil Hoxha (Serbo-Croat: Fadil Hodža) (born March 15, 1916 in Gjakova, Kosovo, died April 22, 2001 in Prishtina, Kosovo) was an Albanian politician.
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As a young man, Hoxha migrated from his home town of Gjakova to attend secondary school in Albania, since secondary education in the Albanian language was unavailable in Kosovo[a]. He continued his education in the town of Shkodër and later in Elbasan. In Albania he joined a communist cell which provided him his first exposure to the ideas of Marxism-Leninism.
He returned to Kosovo in 1941, where he worked as a teacher. In the same year he abandoned his post to become one of the founders of the communist partisan movement in Kosovo. Within a short time Hoxha rose in partisan ranks to become commander, leading battalions which had in their ranks Kosovo Albanians and Serbs who fought against Fascism and Nazism and the Italian and later German occupation of Kosovo.
Hoxha was instrumental in the Kosovo communist movement's efforts at adopting a resolution at the Bujan Conference of 1943, which expressed the wish of Kosovo for national self-determination and unification with Albania. However, under Serbian pressure, the Yugoslav Communist Party annulled the resolution, which resulted in Hoxha's marginalization in the party after the end of the war in 1945 and Kosovo's reinstitution into Serbia with a limited degree of autonomy.
Hoxha's political influence in the Yugoslav Communist Party and grew during the 1960s, especially after the removal from the upper echelons of the party of Serb hardliner Aleksandar Ranković by Josip Broz Tito. As interior minister, Ranković had pursued a notorious policy of repression against Albanians, which was later criticized by the party. Hoxha led efforts to advance Kosovo's constitutional status in a series of constitutional reforms that took place in Yugoslavia. The efforts were consecrated by the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, which granted Kosovo an equal republican status in all but name.
Hoxha also fought for the expansion of federal aid and development programs in Kosovo, which led to Kosovo's rapid industrialization throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Hoxha also led or otherwise supported political battles for the expansion of cultural and educational institutions in the Albanian language, leading to the establishment of the University of Prishtina in 1970 and a Kosovo Academy of Arts and Sciences. Hoxha subscribed to the principles of Yugoslav policy of "brotherhood and unity", believing in the need to achieve national equality between Albanians, Serbs, and other national groups within Kosovo and Yugoslavia.
Hoxha held a number of high posts in Kosovo and Yugoslavia. He served as president of the Assembly of the Kosovo Autonomous Province. He also received the title of People's Hero of Yugoslavia. In 1967 he was appointed to the Yugoslav Communist Party Presidium and in 1974 became a member of the Federal Presidency. In 1978-79 he held the rotating post of Vice President of the Federal Presidency, the highest leadership post in Yugoslavia under Tito.
In 1981, Hoxha faced harsh criticism from radical Kosovo Albanian nationalist movements because of his opposition to the massive demonstrations that occurred in the spring of that year, which demanded republican status for Kosovo and Kosovo's unification with Albania. Hoxha and the Kosovar provincial leaders also faced criticism by the Yugoslav party leadership for failures in curtailing the rise of Albanian nationalism in Kosovo.
After the rise of Slobodan Milošević to power in Serbia, Hoxha, though retired, became subject to a number of political attacks labelling him a nationalist and supporter of secessionism. Hoxha was expelled from the League of Communists of Yugoslavia and in 1991 the Milošević government tried him of treason in what was intended as a show trial.
Though in old age, Hoxha survived the 1999 Kosovo War and remained in Kosovo until the end of the war in hiding. He died of natural causes in 2001, and was buried with honors in his home town of Gjakova.
Hoxha has published his wartime diary Kur pranvera vonohet [When Spring is Late] (Prishtina: Rilindja, 1980) and a three-volume collection of speeches and articles in Jemi në shtëpinë tonë [This is our Home] (Prishtina: Rilindja, 1986), both published in Serbo-Croatian and Turkish editions in addition to the original Albanian. In 2010, an autobiography based on interviews with Fadil Hoxha by Veton Surroi and his father Rexhai Surroi was published under the title "Fadil Hoxha në vetën e parë" [Fadil Hoxha, in the first person] (Prishtina: Koha, 2010).
| Preceded by Mehmed Hoxha |
President of Kosovo 11 July 1945 – 20 February 1953 |
Succeeded by Ismet Saqiri |
| Preceded by position created |
Prime Minister of Kosovo 1945–1963 |
Succeeded by Ali Shukrija |
| Preceded by Stanoje Akšić |
President of Kosovo 24 June 1967 – 7 May 1969 |
Succeeded by Ilaz Kurteshi |
| Preceded by Stevan Doronjski |
Vice-President of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1978–1979 |
Succeeded by Lazar Koliševski |
Notes:
| a. | ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 86 UN member states. |
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