Nexhmije Hoxha: Difference between revisions

Nexhmije Hoxha
Nexhmije Hoxha
	Hoxha in 1944
First Lady of Socialist Albania
	In office; 23 October 1944 – 11 April 1985
Leader	Enver Hoxha
Preceded by	Geraldine Apponyi (under the Albanian Republic)
Succeeded by	Semiramis Xhuvani (Republic of Albania)
Personal details
Born	Nexhmije Xhuglini; 8 February 1921; Bitola, Yugoslavia
Died	26 February 2020 (aged 99); Tirana, Albania
Nationality	Albanian
Political party	Party of Labour of Albania (1941–1991); Communist Party of Albania (1991–2020);
Spouse	Enver Hoxha; (m. 1945; died 1985)
Children	Ilir Hoxha (Son), Sokol Hoxha (Son), Pranvera Hoxha (Daughter)
Relatives	Besmir Hoxha (Grandson), Ermal Hoxha (Grandson), Shkelzen Hoxha (Grandson)
Alma mater	Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute; University of Tirana
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Nexhmije Hoxha (Albanian pronunciation: [nɛdʒˈmijɛ ˈhɔdʒa]; née Xhuglini; 8 February 1921 – 26 February 2020)^[1] was an Albanian communist politician. For many years she was the wife of Enver Hoxha, the first leader of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania and the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. Very close to her husband, she attempted to remain politically influential after his death in 1985.^[2] She was one of the few spouses of a ruling communist party leader with a high political profile of her own.

Biography

Nexhmije Hoxha was born Nexhmije Xhuglini in Bitola, in present-day North Macedonia, then Yugoslavia.^[2] Later moving with her parents to the Albanian capital, Tirana, she studied at the Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute.^[2] In November 1941, while still training to be a schoolteacher, she joined the newly founded Communist Party of Albania and a year later was elected to the General Council of the Albanian National Liberation Movement.

During the Second World War she fought against the forces of Fascist Italy and German Wehrmacht troops, as part of the First Division of the National Liberation Army, a resistance group which was dominated by communists and supported by Special Operations Executive forces which were sent to Albania by the British.^[2] In 1943 she was elected to the Secretariat of the Albanian Women's League, and served as its chairwoman from 1946 to 1952, replacing Ollga Plumbi.^[3]

Relationship with Enver Hoxha

The then Nexhmije Xhuglini met Enver Hoxha at a meeting of the Albanian Party of Labour. Hoxha proposed to her in 1942 at a house which was being rented to him by the generous party supporter Syrja Selfo, who would be sentenced to death and executed in 1946.^[4] Then for the next several months, the Hoxhas stayed on and off in the house of Enver's brother-in-law Bahri Omari, who was destined to be executed by a firing squad in 1945 for collaboration with Nazi occupation forces.^[4] They married in 1945. Enver Hoxha steadily rose to a prominent position after the end of the war and the establishment of a Communist government.^[2]

Political career

In 1966, as Albania increasingly isolated itself, she became director of the Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies, a body which was responsible for ensuring ideological purity and spreading propaganda.^[2] Her relationship with the Sigurimi secret police is widely discussed.^[5] Nexhmije later claimed in her 1998 memoir, My Life with Enver, that her husband expressed some regrets over the number of executions which the Sigurimi carried out.^[5]

After her husband died in 1985, Nexhmije was elected chairwoman of the Democratic Front, an umbrella association, and she defended her husband's heritage during the period of reforms (1990–1991). She was forced to resign as chairwoman of the Democratic Front in December 1990, and she was replaced by Prime Minister Adil Çarçani.

In the initial days after the Fall of communism in Albania, she described Ramiz Alia as a "national traitor", but later recanted her statement, claiming that Alia and the entire Party of Labour of Albania only tried to save what could be saved of socialism, that he could not be described as a "national traitor" and that the original accusation came only out of personal anger and emotion.^[6]

Later life and death

She was expelled from APL on 13 June 1991 and the party organ Zeri i Popullit criticised her for her allegedly pompous way of life.^[7] She was arrested on 10 December 1991 and at the end of January 1993 she was sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement of 750,000 leks.^[7] The sentence was increased to eleven years by the appeal court.^[7] Hoxha was released from prison in January 1997.^[7]^[8]^[9]

Hoxha died on 26 February 2020 aged 99 at her home in Tirana from natural causes. At the time of her death she was the oldest living member of the communist leadership of Albania.^[10]

Personal life

For many years she lived with her husband in the section of Tirana which was known as the Bllok, reserved for the country's ruling elite. However, Nexhmije maintained that she personally did not live extravagantly, emphasizing the prosaic nature of her marriage ceremony in 1945, which did not include a dress, a reception or a honeymoon.^[11]

References

^ Elsie, Robert (23 April 2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810861886. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Nexhmije Hoxha obituary". The Times. London. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ "Ollga plumbi gruaja e zhdukur nga vemendja publike". opolitike.org. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
^ ^a ^b Theodore Dalrymple (5 March 2020). "Murderess with no regrets". The Critic. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ ^a ^b Thomson, Ian (2 March 2020). "Nexhmije Hoxha obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
^ Hoxha, Nexhmije (11 January 2020). "Përpjekjet e mia për ndalimin e gjakëderdhjes në Tiranë (dhe si e mbrojta Ramiz Alinë)". Kosova.info.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Wojciech Roszkowski og Jan Kofman. Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (p. 358). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 2015
^ The Associated Press (11 January 1997). "Widow of dictator leaves prison In Albania, Nexhmije Hoxha serves five years for corruption". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
^ "MY FATHER, ENVER HOXHA". www.oneparty.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
^ "Albanian dictator Hoxha's widow, his staunchest defender, dies at 99". Reuters. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
^ Qosja, Griselda (22 March 2020). "Nexhmije Hoxha (1921–2020)". Jacobin. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

External links

Speech and letters from prison

[1] Elsie, Robert (23 April 2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9780810861886. Retrieved 23 April 2019 – via Google Books.

[times-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f "Nexhmije Hoxha obituary". The Times. London. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

[3] "Ollga plumbi gruaja e zhdukur nga vemendja publike". opolitike.org. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

[td-4] Theodore Dalrymple (5 March 2020). "Murderess with no regrets". The Critic. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

[thomson-5] Thomson, Ian (2 March 2020). "Nexhmije Hoxha obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

[6] Hoxha, Nexhmije (11 January 2020). "Përpjekjet e mia për ndalimin e gjakëderdhjes në Tiranë (dhe si e mbrojta Ramiz Alinë)". Kosova.info.

[Roszkowski-7] Wojciech Roszkowski og Jan Kofman. Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (p. 358). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 2015

[8] The Associated Press (11 January 1997). "Widow of dictator leaves prison In Albania, Nexhmije Hoxha serves five years for corruption". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved 22 May 2012.

[9] "MY FATHER, ENVER HOXHA". www.oneparty.co.uk. Retrieved 23 April 2019.

[10] "Albanian dictator Hoxha's widow, his staunchest defender, dies at 99". Reuters. 26 February 2020. Retrieved 27 February 2020.

[11] Qosja, Griselda (22 March 2020). "Nexhmije Hoxha (1921–2020)". Jacobin. Retrieved 9 May 2020.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
-{{Infobox person
+{{refimprove|date=May 2020}}
-| name               = Nexhmije Hoxha
+{{Short description|Albanian politician (1921–2020)}}
-| image              =
+{{Infobox politician
-| image_size         =
-| alt                =
+| name                = Nexhmije Hoxha
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+| image               = Nexhmije Hoxha (portret).jpg
-| native_name_lang   =
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-| pronunciation      =
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-| birth_name         =  Nexhmije Xhuglini
+| caption             = Hoxha in 1944
-| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|1919|2|7}}
+| birth_name          = Nexhmije Xhuglini
+| birth_date          = {{birth date|1921|2|8|df=y}}
-| birth_place        = [[Bitola]], [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia]]
+| birth_place         = [[Bitola]], [[Kingdom of Yugoslavia|Yugoslavia]]
-| death_date         =
+| death_date          = {{death date and age|2020|2|26|1921|2|8|df=yes}}
-| death_place        =
-| death_cause        =
+| death_place         = [[Tirana]], [[Albania]]
+| nationality         = [[Albanians|Albanian]]
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-| resting_place_coordinates =
+| alma_mater          = [[Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute]]<br />[[University of Tirana]]
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-| nationality        = [[Albanian people|Albanian]]
+| notable_works       =
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+| home_town           =
+| party               = {{bulleted list|[[Party of Labour of Albania]] (1941–1991)|[[Communist Party of Albania (1991)|Communist Party of Albania]] (1991–2020)}}
-| ethnicity          =
+| spouse              = {{marriage|[[Enver Hoxha]]<br>|1945|1985|end=died}}
-| citizenship        =
+| children            = [[Ilir Hoxha]] (Son), Sokol Hoxha (Son), Pranvera Hoxha (Daughter)
-| education          =
+| parents             =
-| alma_mater         = [[Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute]]<br>[[University of Tirana]]
+| relatives           = Besmir Hoxha (Grandson), Ermal Hoxha (Grandson), Shkelzen Hoxha (Grandson)
-| occupation         =
+| signature           = Nexhmije Hoxha2 (nënshkrim).svg
-| years_active       =
-| era                =
+| termend             = 11 April 1985
-| employer           =
+| termstart           = 23 October 1944
-| organization       =
+| leader              = [[Enver Hoxha]]
-| agent              =
+| predecessor         = [[Geraldine Apponyi]] (under the [[Albanian Republic]])
-| known_for          =
+| successor           = Semiramis Xhuvani (Republic of Albania)
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 }}
+'''Nexhmije Hoxha''' ({{IPA-sq|nɛdʒˈmijɛ ˈhɔdʒa}}; {{née|'''Xhuglini'''}}; 8 February 1921 – 26 February 2020)<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6inIiCF_930C&q=Nexhmije+Hoxha+1921&pg=PA195|title=Historical Dictionary of Albania|first=Robert|last=Elsie|date=23 April 2010|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9780810861886|accessdate=23 April 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> was an Albanian communist politician. For many years she was the wife of [[Enver Hoxha]], the first leader of the [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania]] and the First Secretary of the [[Party of Labour of Albania]]. Very close to her husband, she attempted to remain politically influential after his death in 1985.<ref name="times">{{cite news |title=Nexhmije Hoxha obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/nexhmije-hoxha-obituary-7jhk5znvb |website=[[The Times]] |accessdate=9 May 2020 |location=London |language=en |date=4 March 2020}}</ref> She was one of the few spouses of a ruling communist party leader with a high political profile of her own.
+==Biography==
-'''Nexhmije Hoxha''' ({{IPA-sq|nɛdʒmijɛ ˈhɔdʒa|}}; born February 7, 1919) is the widow of [[Socialist People's Republic of Albania|Albanian communist]] leader [[Enver Hoxha]].
+Nexhmije Hoxha was born Nexhmije Xhuglini in [[Bitola]], in present-day [[North Macedonia]], then [[Yugoslavia]].<ref name=times /> Later moving with her parents to the Albanian capital, [[Tirana]], she studied at the [[Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute]].<ref name=times /> In November 1941, while still training to be a schoolteacher, she joined the newly founded [[Albanian Communist Party|Communist Party of Albania]] and a year later was elected to the General Council of the Albanian [[National Liberation Movement (Albania)|National Liberation Movement]].
+During the [[World War II|Second World War]] she fought against the forces of [[Fascist Italy (1922–1943)|Fascist Italy]] and [[Wehrmacht|German Wehrmacht troops]], as part of the First Division of the National Liberation Army, a resistance group which was dominated by [[Communism|communists]] and supported by [[Special Operations Executive]] forces which were sent to Albania by the British.<ref name=times /> In 1943 she was elected to the Secretariat of the [[Union of Albanian Women| Albanian Women's League]], and served as its chairwoman from 1946 to 1952, replacing [[Ollga Plumbi]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://opolitike.org/analiza/ollga-plumbi-gruaja-e-zhdukur-nga-vemendja-publike/|title=Ollga plumbi gruaja e zhdukur nga vemendja publike|website=opolitike.org|access-date=27 February 2020|archive-date=8 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170508145544/http://opolitike.org/analiza/ollga-plumbi-gruaja-e-zhdukur-nga-vemendja-publike/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
-==Personal history==
-Hoxha was born '''Nexhmije Xhuglini''' in [[Bitolj]], in present-day [[Republic of Macedonia]] to [[Albanian people|Albanian]] parents. She studied at the [[Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute]] in [[Tirana]].<ref name=Metropol>{{cite news|last=Kotini|first=Albert|title=90-vjetori i institutit femëror "Nëna Mbretëreshë"|url=http://www.gazetametropol.com/90-vjetori-i-institutit-femeror-nena-mbretereshe/|newspaper=Metropol}}</ref>  After [[World War II]], she continued her studies at the State [[University of Tirana]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}} In November 1941 she joined the newly founded [[Albanian Party of Labour|Albanian Communist Party]] (ACP) and a year later was elected to the General Council of the Albanian [[National Liberation Movement (Albania)|National Liberation Movement]]. During the rest of [[World War II]] she fought in the 1st Division of the National Liberation Army. In 1943 she was elected to the Secretariat of the (Communist) Albanian Women's League, and served as chairwoman from 1946 to 1952.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}}
-==Relationship with Enver Hoxha==
+===Relationship with Enver Hoxha===
+The then Nexhmije Xhuglini met Enver Hoxha at a meeting of the Albanian Party of Labour. Hoxha proposed to her in 1942 at a house which was being rented to him by the generous party supporter Syrja Selfo, who would be sentenced to death and executed in 1946.<ref name="td">{{cite news|author=Theodore Dalrymple|authorlink1=Theodore Dalrymple |title=Murderess with no regrets|url=https://thecritic.co.uk/murderess-with-no-regrets/|work=The Critic|accessdate=9 May 2020|date=5 March 2020}}</ref> Then for the next several months, the Hoxhas stayed on and off in the house of Enver's brother-in-law [[Bahri Omari]], who was destined to be executed by a [[firing squad]] in 1945 for collaboration with Nazi occupation forces.<ref name=td /> They married in 1945. Enver Hoxha steadily rose to a prominent position after the end of the war and the establishment of a [[Communist state|Communist government]].<ref name=times />
-After [[World War II]] she married prime minister and Communist Party leader Enver Hoxha.
+==Political career==
-Hoxha was elected to the National Assembly in 1948.  In 1952 she joined the Central Committee of the Albanian Party of Labour, as the [[Albanian Communist Party]] had been called since 1948, becoming one of the few spouses of a Communist Party boss to become a power in her own right. In 1966 she became director of the Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies. She was the last Director (Rector, Chancellor) of the [[V.I. Lenin Higher Party School]] despite a lack of formal higher education.
+In 1966, as Albania increasingly isolated itself, she became director of the Institute of Marxist–Leninist Studies, a body which was responsible for ensuring ideological purity and spreading [[propaganda]].<ref name=times /> Her relationship with the [[Sigurimi]] [[secret police]] is widely discussed.<ref name="thomson">{{cite web |last1=Thomson |first1=Ian |title=Nexhmije Hoxha obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/02/nexhmije-hoxha-obituary |website=[[The Guardian]] |accessdate=9 May 2020 |date=2 March 2020}}</ref> Nexhmije later claimed in her 1998 memoir, ''My Life with Enver'', that her husband expressed some regrets over the number of executions which the Sigurimi carried out.<ref name=thomson />
-After her husband died in 1985, Nexhmije Hoxha was elected Chairwoman of the [[Democratic Front of Albania|Democratic Front]] (an umbrella association) and defended her husband's heritage during the period of reforms (1990-1991). She was forced to resign as chairwoman of the Democratic Front in December 1990, and was replaced by Prime Minister [[Adil Çarçani]].  She was arrested and sentenced to prison for misuse of Albanian government funds during her husband's regime, but later released.<ref>{{cite news
+After her husband died in 1985, Nexhmije was elected chairwoman of the [[Democratic Front of Albania|Democratic Front]], an umbrella association, and she defended her husband's heritage during the period of reforms (1990–1991). She was forced to resign as chairwoman of the Democratic Front in December 1990, and she was replaced by Prime Minister [[Adil Çarçani]].
+In the initial days after the [[Fall of communism in Albania]], she described [[Ramiz Alia]] as a "national traitor", but later recanted her statement, claiming that Alia and the entire Party of Labour of Albania only tried to save what could be saved of socialism, that he could not be described as a "national traitor" and that the original accusation came only out of personal anger and emotion.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hoxha|first=Nexhmije|date=January 11, 2020|title=Përpjekjet e mia për ndalimin e gjakëderdhjes në Tiranë (dhe si e mbrojta Ramiz Alinë)|url=https://kosova.info/nexhmije-hoxha-perpjekjet-e-mia-per-ndalimin-e-gjakederdhjes-ne-tirane-dhe-si-e-mbrojta-ramiz-aline/|website=Kosova.info}}</ref>
+==Later life and death==
+She was expelled from APL on 13 June 1991 and the party organ [[Zeri i Popullit]] criticised her for her allegedly pompous way of life.<ref name= Roszkowski/> She was arrested on 10 December 1991 and at the end of January 1993 she was sentenced to nine years in prison for embezzlement of 750,000 [[Albanian lek|leks]].<ref name= Roszkowski/> The sentence was increased to eleven years by the appeal court.<ref name= Roszkowski/> Hoxha was released from prison in January 1997.<ref name= Roszkowski> Wojciech  Roszkowski og Jan Kofman. ''Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century'' (p. 358). Taylor and Francis. Kindle Edition. 2015</ref><ref>{{cite news
 |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=KC&p_theme=kc&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAF4400E276922E&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM
 |title=Widow of dictator leaves prison In Albania, Nexhmije Hoxha serves five years for corruption
 |last=The Associated Press
-|date=January 11, 1997
+|date=11 January 1997
 |work=The Kansas City Star
-|accessdate=22 May 2012}}</ref><ref>[http://www.oneparty.co.uk/compass/compass/com13604.html ''My Father, Enver Hoxha'' by Nexhmije's son Ilir]</ref>
+|accessdate=22 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oneparty.co.uk/compass/compass/com13604.html|title=MY FATHER, ENVER HOXHA|website=www.oneparty.co.uk|accessdate=23 April 2019}}</ref>
+Hoxha died on 26 February 2020 aged 99 at her home in Tirana from natural causes. At the time of her death she was the oldest living member of the communist leadership of Albania.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-albania-hoxha-idUSKCN20K30K|title=Albanian dictator Hoxha's widow, his staunchest defender, dies at 99|date=26 February 2020|work=Reuters|access-date=27 February 2020|language=en}}</ref>
+==Personal life==
+For many years she lived with her husband in the section of Tirana which was known as the ''Bllok'', reserved for the country's ruling elite. However, Nexhmije maintained that she personally did not live extravagantly, emphasizing the prosaic nature of her marriage ceremony in 1945, which did not include a [[wedding dress|dress]], a reception or a [[honeymoon]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Qosja |first1=Griselda |title=Nexhmije Hoxha (1921–2020) |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2020/03/nexhmije-hoxha-albania-obituary |website=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |accessdate=9 May 2020 |date=22 March 2020}}</ref>
 ==References==
+{{reflist|2}}
-<references />
 ==External links==
 * [http://www.mltranslations.org/Albania/index.htm Speech and letters from prison]
-{{Authority control|VIAF=210553634}}
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoxha, Nexhmije}}
-[[Category:1919 births]]
+[[Category:1921 births]]
-[[Category:Living people]]
+[[Category:2020 deaths]]
 [[Category:Albanian communists]]
+[[Category:Albanian former Muslims]]
 [[Category:Albanian atheists]]
-[[Category:Anti-Revisionists]]
+[[Category:Anti-revisionists]]
 [[Category:Albanian resistance members]]
 [[Category:Female resistance members of World War II]]
 [[Category:People from Bitola]]
+[[Category:Albanians in North Macedonia]]
 [[Category:Enver Hoxha]]
-[[Category:Albanian women in politics]]
+[[Category:20th-century Albanian women politicians]]
+[[Category:20th-century Albanian politicians]]
 [[Category:Queen Mother Pedagogical Institute alumni]]
 [[Category:University of Tirana alumni]]
+[[Category:Hoxhaists]]
+[[Category:Women Marxists]]
+[[Category:Socialist feminists]]
+[[Category:Critics of religions]]
+[[Category:First women government ministers]]

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