Rauf Fico

Rauf Fico
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
April 19, 1929 – April 20, 1931
Minister of Interior Affairs (acting)
In office
December 12, 1921 – December 24, 1921
Personal details
Born March 13, 1881
Gjirokastër, Albania (then Ottoman Empire)
Died January 23, 1944
Albanian Kingdom (1943–44)
Nationality Albanian

Rauf Fico (March 13, 1881 – 1944) was an Albanian diplomat and politician.

Life

Rauf Fico was born in 1881 to Tahmaz Fico of the Fico family of Gjirokastër and Hava Buzo from Berat. He studied in Vienna and later at the Mekteb-i Mülkiye. In 1912 he joined Vlora's government as a councilor in the Ministry of the Interior. In 1916, during the Austrian military administration, he served as vice-prefect of Tiranë. In that position, he co-founded Streha Vorfnore, the city's first public orphanage, on November 28, 1917, the date of the fifth anniversary of the Albanian Declaration of Independence. His collaborators that also constituted the board of the orphanage were Zyber Hallulli, Mytesim Këlliçi, Luigj Shala and Xhelal Toptani.[1] Fico was one of the initiators of Congress of Tiranë (19–20 December 1918) together with Abdi Toptani and Ismail Ndroqi, which would lead the path to the Congress of Durrës later that month, establishing the continuity of the newly created Albanian state after WWI; the preparative meetings would take place at his office on December 7, 1918.[2]

In 1921 he served as acting Minister of Interior Affairs in Pandeli Evangjeli's cabinet. In the elections of 1923 and 1925 he was elected deputy of Durrës.[3]

In the late 1920s he served as an ambassador to Turkey and Bulgaria and in April 1929 was appointed Foreign Minister of Albania. However, due to his opposition to the Italians he was removed from this post in November 1930 and returned to being an ambassador, to Yugoslavia (1933–36), Greece (1937) and Germany (1938-9).[4] After Albania's invasion by the Italian army, he was arrested and interned in Italy. He died in Tirana on January 23, 1944 a few months after he returned from Italy following the country's capitulation.[5]

Orders, decorations, and honours

Throughout his political and diplomatic career Fico had been awarded various orders:[6]

References

  1. ↑ Frashëri, Kristo (2004). Historia e Tiranës (in Albanian). Toena. p. 395. ISBN 9992718978.
  2. ↑ Shyqyri Hysi (2007-12-27), Kongresi i Tiranes, fakte dhe dokumente te reja (in Albanian), Lajmi Shqip, retrieved 8.1.14, Me 7 dhjetor te vitit 1918, atdhetaret tiranas hartuan thirrjen e pare per mbrojtjen e interesave kombetare te popullit shqiptar. Ne procesverbalin e kesaj mbledhjeje, qe u mbajt ne zyren e Reuf Ficos shkruhet: “Vendim i marrun per mbledhjen e kongresit ne Tirane. (origjinal i vetem). Ne mbledhjen qe u be ne mes t’one me 7-12-‘18 ne Tirane u vendos qe te grishen (thirren) qarqet: Elbasan, Peqin, Kavaj, Durres, Kruje, Mat, Diber, per me ba nje bised permbi qetesine e bashkim te plote te ketyne viseve me 19-12-918 te enjten te behet mbledhja.” Thirrja u hartua nga atdhetari Abdi Bej Toptani, i cili ishte organizatori dhe mbeshtetesi i kesaj veprimtarie. Ne nje takim te organizuar ne zyren e nenprefektit Reuf Fico me 7 dhjetor 1918, Sotir Peci, Abdyl Ypi, Ismail Ndroqi, Mytesim Kelliçi, Sinan Hoxha, Myslim Beshiri dhe nenprefekti(R.F), nenshkruan thirrjen apo nje dokument, siç e quan Ficoja, me te cilin ftoheshin te merrnin pjese ne kete mbledhje, nga dy perfaqesues te: Tiranes, Elbasanit, Gramshit, Peqinit, Durresit, Kavajes, Krujes, Matit dhe Dibres . Per kete vendim, nje njoftim te posaçem prej organizatoreve moren Hasan Prishtina, Aqif Pashe Elbasani dhe Ahmet Zogu, te cilit organizatoret i kerkuan te vinte me heret ne Tirane. Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ↑ "Parliament, Legislature, Deputies" (PDF). Parliament of Albania. 2005. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Özdalga, Elizabeth (2005). Late Ottoman society: the intellectual legacy. Volume 3 of SOAS/RoutledgeCurzon studies on the Middle East (Routledge). p. 319. ISBN 0-415-34164-7.
  5. ↑ "Streha e parë Vorfnore, Rauf Fico apo Zyber Hallulli?". Gazeta Shqip. 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  6. ↑ Skender Shkupi (2012-11-22), Rauf Fico, si u mohua kryediplomati që pajtoi Zogun me Ataturkun [Rauf Fico, how the chief-diplomat who brought together Zog and Ataturk got denied] (in Albanian), Bota Sot, retrieved 2013-12-29