(b. 1913; d. Tirana, c. 19 Dec. 1981) Albanian; Minister of the Interior 1948 – 74, Minister of War 1974 – 80 Shehu was the son of prosperous Muslim parents. He was educated at the American school in Tirana then at an Italian military college, from which he was expelled for Communist activities. He fought with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. In 1942 he became military commander of the Albanian National Liberation Army. After training at the Military Academy in Moscow, Shehu became Chief of Staff of the Albanian army in 1946. His fortunes slumped during the ascendancy of the pro-Yugoslav faction of the Albanian Party but picked up after the Tito-Stalin split in June 1948, when he replaced Koçi Xoxe as Minister of the Interior. He was Prime Minister from 1954. In 1974 to 1980 he was Minister of War, conducting a purge of the officer corps. In 1981 Hoxa made it clear that Ramiz Alia, not Shehu, was to be his successor. In December 1981 Shehu committed suicide in mysterious circumstances. It was rumoured that he had been murdered at a meeting of the Albanian Politburo. The Albanian leader, Enver Hoxha denounced Shehu as an agent of the British, Yugoslav, US, and Soviet intelligence services. Over the next year his family and supporters were purged.
Mehmet Shehu
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| Mehmet Shehu | |
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2nd Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania
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| In office July 20, 1954 – December 17, 1981 |
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| Preceded by | Enver Hoxha |
| Succeeded by | Adil Çarçani |
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| Born | January 10, 1913 Çorrush, Albania |
| Died | December 17, 1981 (aged 68) Tirana, Albania |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Political party | Party of Labour of Albania |
Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 17, 1981) was an Albanian Communist politician who served as premier of Albania from 1954 to 1981. As an acknowledged military tactician, without whose leadership the Communist partisans may well have failed in their battle to win Albania for the Marxist cause, Shehu was ruthless and exhibited an Albanian ideological zeal that singled him out for rapid promotion in the communist ranks.[1] Mehmet Shehu shared the absolute power with Enver Hoxha since the end of the Second World War. He committed suicide in December 17, 1981 after which the entire Shehu clan (his wife, sons and other of his relatives) were arrested and imprisoned while Mehmet Shehu himself was denounced as "one of the most dangerous traitors and enemies of his country"[2]
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Early years
Shehu was born in Corrush, Mallakastra, South Albania in a family of a Tosk Muslim priest. He graduated with diploma in agriculture in 1932 from the Tirana Albanian Vocational School funded by the American Red Cross. Unsuccessful in finding employment within the Ministry of agriculture he managed to get a scholarship to attend the Naples Military Academy. After being expelled from this school for his pro-Communist sympathies in 1936 he gained entry to Tirana Officers School, but he left the following year after volunteering to fight for the republican side in the Spanish Civil War. He joined the Spanish Communist Party and rose to the command of the Fourth Battalion of the XIIth Garibaldi Brigade. After the defeat of the Republican forces he was arrested in France in early 1939 as he was retreating from Spain along with his friends. He was interned in an internment camp in France and later was transferred to an Italian internment camp, where he joined the Italian Communist Party.[3]
Activity in WW II
In 1942 he returned to Albania which was under Italian occupation where he immediately joined the Albanian Communist Party and the Albanian resistance. In 1943, he was elected as a candidate member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. In August 1943 due to his military experience, he rose swiftly to commander of the 1st Partisan Storm Brigade. Thereafter, he was the commander of 1rst Partisan Storm Division of the National Liberation Army. From 1944 to 1945 he was a member of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation (the provisional government).
After WW II
After Albania was liberated from the German occupation (November 1944), Shehu became the deputy chief of the general staff and, after he studied in Moscow, became the chief of the general staff. Later, he was also a lieutenant general and a full general.
In 1948, Shehu "expurgated" from the party the element who "tried to separate Albania from the Soviet Union and lead her under Belgrade's influence". This made him the nearest person to Enver Hoxha and brought him high offices. However, he remained in Hoxha's shadow. If he had become a serious rival to Hoxha he would have been eliminated.
From 1948, he was a member of the Central Committee and the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Albanian Party of Labour, and, from 1948 to 1953, he was a secretary of the Central Committee. He lost the latter position on June 24 when Enver Hoxha gave up the posts of Minister of Defence and Minister of Foreign Affairs, remaining the Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Hoxha was probably not willing to yield too much power to him.
From 1948 to 1954 he was the deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers and the Minister of Internal Affairs (and the chief of the secret police). From 1954 to 1981 he succeeded Enver Hoxha as the chairman of the Council of Ministers. From 1974 he was also the Minister of People's Defence while from 1947 to his death Shehu was a deputy of the People's Assembly.
Hard line man
During the war, Shehu won a reputation for brutality. On his command most tribal chiefs in the mountains of northern Albania were executed. In 1949, he ordered 14 Catholic tribesmen in the Mirdita region executed after underground fighters aligned with conservative Albanian political exiles working as Italian Navy espionage agents executed Bardhok Biba, a relative of Catholic tribal leader Gjon Markagjoni who had turned against the tribal system to become a ranking Communist district official. Mike Burke, the American spymaster who set up a 1950 paramilitary project to oust the Albanian Marxist regime, said in 1986 that Shehu was "one tough son of a bitch", whose security forces gave U.S. agents "a tough time".
At the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (October 1961) Anastas Mikoyan, one of the Soviet leaders, quoted Mehmet Shehu, who had said at an Albanian Party Congress: "Whoever disagrees with our leadership in some point, will get a spit into his face, a blow onto his chin, and, if necessary, a bullet into his head."
Last years
Shehu was considered to be Enver Hoxha's right hand man and the second most important person in Albania. For 40 years Hoxha was Shehu's friend and closest comrade. Shehu was one of those who prepared the Chinese-Albanian alliance and the break with the Soviet Union (December 1961). It is claimed that in 1981 Shehu opposed Enver Hoxha's isolationism. He was accused of being a Yugoslav spy.
On December 17, 1981, he was found dead in his bedroom in Tirana with a bullet wound to his head. According to the official announcement (December 18), he had committed suicide in a nervous breakdown. This was a crime under Albanian law. Shehu was declared to be a "people's enemy" and was buried in a wasteland near the village of Ndroq near Tirana. After his death Shehu was claimed to have been an agent of not only the Yugoslav secret services, but also the CIA and the KGB. In Hoxha's book Titoites (1982) several chapters are dedicated to Shehu's denunciation. Shehu disappeared from the official history of Albania. Shehu's widow Fiqerete (born Sanxhaktari) and two of his sons were arrested without any explanation and later imprisoned on different pretexts.
After the fall of Communism and his release from prison in 1991, Mehmet Shehu's younger son Bashkim started seeking his father's remains. On November 19, 2001, it was announced that Mehmet Shehu's remains had been found.
A fictionalised account of Mehmet Shehu's fall and death is the subject of Ismail Kadare's novel The Successor (2003).
See also
References
- ^ Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia, Volume 1 Author Bernard A. Cook Publisher Taylor & Francis, 2001 ISBN 0815340583, 9780815340584
- ^ Albania as dictatorship and democracy: from isolation to the Kosovo War, 1946-1998 Volume 3 of Albania in the Twentieth Century: A History, Owen Pearson Volume 3 of Albania and King Zog, Owen Pearson Author Owen Pearson Edition illustrated Publisher I.B.Tauris, 2006 ISBN 1845111052, 9781845111052
- ^ Europe since 1945: an encyclopedia, Volume 1 Author Bernard A. Cook Publisher Taylor & Francis, 2001 ISBN 0815340583, 9780815340584
| Preceded by Enver Hoxha |
Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Albania 1954–1981 |
Succeeded by Adil Çarçani |
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 | Political Biography. A Dictionary of Political Biography. Copyright © 1998, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
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Mentioned in
- Enver Hoxha (Albanian politician)
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