TIRANA, Jan 24 /ATA/ – Tributes were paid on Saturday at the monumental tomb of Ismail Qemali in the southern city of Vlora to mark the 107th anniversary of his death.
The commemorative ceremony was attended by Defense Minister Pirro Vengu, lawmaker Ardit Bido, Vlora regional prefect Evis Allushi, Mayor Bruna Mersini, and other officials and public figures, who gathered to honor Qemali’s life and legacy.
Speaking at the event, Defense Minister Vengu said that remembering Qemali’s enduring work reaffirmed “Vlora’s century-old commitment to independence, dignity and our responsibility to move Albania forward.”
Ismail Qemali Vlora is widely regarded as the architect of the Albanian state. Through political courage and a clear nation-building vision, he led Albania to independence in 1912 and laid the foundations of the modern Albanian state.
Born in Vlora in 1844, Qemali was a member of one of southern Albania’s most prominent families and the son of Mahmut Nedim Bey.
He died on Jan. 24, 1919, in Perugia, Italy. Qemali was buried twice — first in February 1919 in Kaninë, the birthplace of his family, and later, on Nov. 28, 1932, in Vlora, where his monumental tomb now stands.
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