Omer Nishani
| Omer Nishani | |
|---|---|
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
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In office 1944–1946 |
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| Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of Albania | |
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In office 16 March 1946 – 1 August 1953 |
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| Preceded by | new function |
| Succeeded by | Haxhi Lleshi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 5 February 1887 Gjirokastër, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 26 May 1954 (aged 67) Tirana |
| Profession | physician and politician |
Doctor Omer Nishani (5 February 1887 – 26 May 1954) was an Albanian political figure involved first in the struggle against Ahmet Zogu (known after 1928 as King Zog) in the 1920s and 1930s, and then in the struggle against the fascist occupation of Albania during the 1942–4 period, becoming the Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of the People's Republic of Albania (thereby becoming the country's head of state) in 1946 and serving in this position until 1953.
Omer was born in Gjirokastër in the Janina Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire. His brother, Beso, was a teacher whose students included a young Enver Hoxha (also a native of Gjirokastër). Nishani studied medicine in Istanbul, graduating but not practicing it as a profession. In the early 1920s he involved himself in politics, supporting Fan S. Noli whose forces in 1924 had overthrown the conservative order backed by Ahmet Zogu and established a democratic government, with Nishani participating in a trial held against Zogu in absentia. After the downfall of the government in December that same year Nishani fled abroad and co-founded the anti-Zogu and Comintern-backed KONARE (National Revolutionary Committee) in 1925, helping to run its newspaper Liria Kombëtare (National Freedom) together with the Albanian Communist Halim Xhelo from 1925 to 1932 in Geneva.
After the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939 Nishani returned to the country and initially joined the collaborationist government's Council of State which comprised various personalities opposed to King Zog. Nishani, who had known Enver Hoxha's father, Halil, was visited by Hoxha (who was then head of the Communist Party of Albania and leader of the partisan resistance) and remarked that, "We old fogies have had our day, long live the youth, because you are the hope of the country. I haven't done anything much, but I fought Zog as much as I could. And I had good comrades on the newspaper who helped me in that direction. I did not give up, but what was I to do, die in exile? I was longing to see the country and my people. I came back, but these fascists and occupiers and all the rogues who serve them like dogs, I hate them like death. But you are going to say, then why did you join the 'Council of State'? I had to, because I have nothing to live on and I have a wife to keep. So this is what I am reduced to." He quickly grew disenchanted with the post-Zog occupation and regarded involvement in the quisling government as a mistake; in this same conversation he said that "everybody knows that fascism cuts the heads of communists. I am not a communist, but I have lived and worked with them, I have respected them and they have respected me. I shall tell you one thing: for you the road is not strewn with flowers, but go on, fight, because only by fighting you will save Albania."
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