Ali Shefqet Shkupi

Ali Shefqet Shkupi Bey
Native name	Ali Shefqet Shkupi
Birth name	Ali Hysen Shefqeti
Born	September 1883 Uskub, Ottoman Empire
Died	3 December 1953 Shkoder, Albania
Buried at	Tirana, Albania
Allegiance	Ottoman Empire (1905 - 1912) Principality of Albania (April 1913 - December 1924)
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Awards	"Patriotic Activity of First Class" (Albania)

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Shefqet Shkupi, also known as Ali Shefqet Bey, was the first Chief of Supreme Staff of the Albanian Army bearing the functions of the Supreme Commander in the Albanian Government of Ismail Qemal Vlora.

Ali Shefqeti was the son of Hysen Shefqeti, and Albanian originating from İpek who had settled in Uskub. His mother was a local Albanian woman from a rich family. Ali was born in Uskub in September 1883. His brother was Naxhi Shkupi, another Albanian nationalist who invested most of his wealth into the Albanian new state.

Ali took his elementary education in Salonika, later followed the Monastir Military High School, later the Turkish Military Academy (Kara Harp Okulu), ending with Academy of General Staff in Istambul, which he finished in 1905. At the end of the Academy he was given the rank captain. Later, he served various positions in the Ottoman Third Army in Macedonia. He supported the Young Turks movement, being part of the military units which attacked Istambul in 1908. (See: Young Turk Revolution)

Disappointed from the Young Turks, and taking advantage of his location in Macedonia where most of the Albanian nationalist movements were situated, he got in touch with Albanian patriotic circles. The end of Albanian Revolt of 1912 would find him in Istambul with the rank major (binbashi). Ali Shkupi received information that he was on the list to get arrested, therefore escaped to Romania with the support of Albanian community. Later he moved in Trieste (back then part of Austro-Hungary). In March 1913, he participated in the Albanian Congress of Trieste.

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