Koçi Bako

Koçi Bako (1906[2] or 1905[3]–1941) was an Albanian Communist activist.[2] An early member of the Communist Group of Korçë, he is the first martyr of the Communist Party of Albania since its creation.[4]

Koçi Bako
Born1905 or 1906
Korçë, Manastir Vilayet
Died8 November 1941[1]
Korçë
NationalityAlbanian
Occupationartisan
Known forFirst martyr of the Albanian Communist Party
Awards Hero of the People

History

Bako was born in Korçë, today's Albania, back then still Ottoman Empire in 1905[3] or 1906. He was an orphan. An autodidact, he worked as an artisan and as a shepherd. He became communist of the early hours affiliated with the first Albanian communist group in Korçë.[2]
According to Enver Hoxha's memoirs, Bako kept a copy of the Communist Manifesto as a precious thing, and had given to him to translate.[5]

On 8 November 1941, an anti-Italian and anti-Fascist demonstration was held in Korçë. The carabinieri and the police intervened brutally and ended on opening fire on the crowd. Bako was shot dead somewhere close to the monument of Themistokli Gërmenji,[6] while many others were wounded.[1][7] He became the first martyr of the Communist Party which was founded on 8 November. His monument resides in Korçë. Streets are named after him, and he appears in Albanian stamps.[8] He posthumously received the Albanian honorary title "People's Hero".

References
  1. Owen Pearson (2006), Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History, vol. II (annotated ed.), I. B. Tauris, p. 164, ISBN 978-1845111045
  2. Partington, Paul G. (1979), Who's Who on the Postage Stamps of Eastern Europe, Scarecrow Press, p. 18, ISBN 9780810812666, OCLC 5563854, KOCI BAKO, Albanian revolutionary. An orphan, he was born in 1906. Self -educated he worked as a shepherd and an artisan. Early in life he became engaged in revolutionary activities.
  3. "Java e Partise Komuniste", Ylli, 12, 1971, ISSN 0513-5486, OCLC 5436004, KOCI BAKO 1905-1941 ~Shokël Kini për të parë, tani që po formohet PKSH ne do të çliroheıni më shpejt-. Kështu u tha shokëve ai ato ditë kur shoku Enver Hoxha formorrte partinë. Por vetëm 24 orë gëzoi frymëmarrjen e PKSH...
  4. New Albania. 1971. p. 4. OCLC 6335595 – via Google Books.
  5. Instituti i Studimeve Marksiste-Leniniste (1986), Enver Hoxha, 1908-1985, Institute of Marxist-Leninist Studies at the CC of the PLA, p. 25, OCLC 18684764 – via Google Books
  6. Hoxha, Enver (1985), Për shokët e mi pionierë: pjesë të zgjedhura nga Veprat [To my fellow pioneers: selected passages from Acts] (in Albanian), Shtëpia Botuese "8 Nëntori", p. 124, OCLC 15656129
  7. Instituti i Studimeve Marksiste-Leniniste (1982), History of the Party of Labour of Albania (2 ed.), 8 Nëntori Publ. House, p. 63, ISBN 9780888031013, OCLC 13198260
  8. Stamp ‹ Koci Bako, by Pandi Mele
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