Gjon Markagjoni
Kapidan Gjon Marka Gjoni | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Kapedan of the Mirdita | |
| In office 1927–1944 | |
| Preceded by | Marka Gjoni |
| Succeeded by | Ndue Gjon Marku (Gjomarkaj) |
| Minister of the Interior of Albania | |
| In office 13 February 1943 – 12 May 1943 | |
| Preceded by | Fiqri Dine |
| Succeeded by | Kol Bib Mirakaj |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 August 1888 Orosh, Mirdita, Ottoman Empire (present-day Albania) |
| Died | 28 April 1966 (aged 77) Rome, Italy |
| Resting place | Rome, Italy |
| Spouse | Mrika |
Gjon Marka Gjoni (28 August 1888 – 28 April 1966) was an Albanian Catholic clan chieftain (Albanian: Kapedan) of Mirdita.[1] and an Italian Senator.
Biography[edit]
He was born in Orosh, Mirdita, the only son of Kapidan Marka Gjoni (1861–1925). His father was the leader or Kapidan of Mirdita who rebelled against the Albanian government in favour of an independent Mirdita. In 1921, as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Marka Gjoni founded the Republic of Mirdita in northern Albania and served as its president during its short existence. His republic received recognition from the Kingdom of Greece.
With this father, he had been a main protagonist in the secession of Mirdita in July 1921 and fled to Serbia with him and his son when it was suppressed. In 1922, however, Gjon Markagjoni returned to Albania and, after reaching an understanding with Ahmet Zogu, who was minister of the interior and defence and then Prime Minister, he was made a lieutenant colonel under Zogu.
Kapidan Gjon married Mrika Pervizi, the niece of the Bajraktar of Kurbin, Gjok Pjeter Pervizi. They had ten children.
Succession as clan leader[edit]
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In 1926, Markagjoni headed a commission to arbitrate blood feuds the were still widespread in Mirdita and the northern Albanian mountains, and finally in 1927, he succeed his father as the hereditary Kapedan.
Rebellion against Zog and alliance with the axis[edit]
In April 1939, having rebelled against King Zog and allied himself with fascist Italy, he is said to have signed a petition calling for Italian military intervention to do away with the ‘disorder, corruption and dissolution of the Zogist regime’
During the Italian occupation, he was courted by Rome, given the position of an Italian senator on 3 June 1939 and was offered a lavish reception by Mussolini.
From December 1941 to January 1943, he was a member of the Supreme Fascist Corporative Council (parliament). He was also Albanian Minister of the Interior in the short-lived cabinet of Maliq bey Bushati and collaborated with the German occupation authorities. In late 1944, he fled to Italy and was given asylum by the Vatican.
Exile in Rome[edit]
In September 1949, Gjon Markagjoni agreed to join the anticommunist Nation Committee for a Free Albania, though he was not particularly politically active in the postwar period.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Biografi: a traveller's tale Lloyd Jones - 1994 -p59 "The Englishman had climbed 2,000 feet above the Fani i vogel River to meet Gjon Marka Gjoni, the hereditary Chieftain of Mirdite and permanent chief of all the Catholic clans in northern Albania. Swire describes a sturdy figure in "a dark red ...
- Albanian politicians
- 1888 births
- 1966 deaths
- Albanian Roman Catholics
- 20th-century Albanian clergy
- People from Mirditë
- Albanian anti-communists
- Albanian collaborators with Fascist Italy
- Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany
- 20th-century Albanian military personnel
- Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire
- Albanian emigrants to Italy
- Members of the Senate of the Kingdom of Italy