Kryeziu family

The Kryeziu family was notably powerful and influential in Gjakova and other parts of Dukagjin during the 19th and 20th century. They were part of the Ottoman cast. The family name comes from the Albanian word for Blackhead.

Biography

Riza Bey Kryeziu was active during the Albanian Revolt of 1912; one of the organizers of the League of Junik and activist of Albanian national movements of the early 20th century.^[1][2] His sons, Gani, Ceno, Hasan, and Said were influential during the early and mid 20th century in southern Kosovo and north Albania. At a short notice, they were able to gather men and logistics for constructing guerrillas.^[3]

The Kryeziu brothers were Ceno Bey, Gani Bey, Said Bey, Ali, Rada, and Hasan Bey Kryeziu from the Gjakova region in Kosovo.^[4]

Ceno Bey became the brother-in-law of Ahmet Zogu. He was the first widely accepted Yugoslav spy in Albanian political leadership.^[5] Due to the pro-Italian orientation of King Zog I, Yugoslav authorities pinpointed Ceno as a near replacement for Ahmet Zogu, who became aware of the connection between Ceno and the Yugoslavs and paid one of his agents to assassinate him in Prague in 1927.^[6][7]

Kulla tower of the Kryeziu Brothers in Gjakova

The other three brothers were less famous than Ceno until World War II, but still respectably influential. They became the leaders of the partisan anti-communist guerrillas in Albania, fighting against the Italians, followed by the Germans, and later the strong communist fraction of the National Liberation Movement. During this time they kept formidable relationships with Yugoslav secret services and Allied Headquarters, collaborating with American and British officers.^[8][9][10] Enver Hoxha later called them, in disdain, "British and Yugoslav agents".^[11]

See also

• Albanian Subversion
• Communism in Albania

References

1. "History of Albanian People" Albanian Academy of Science.ISBN 99927-1-623-1
2. Hasan Bey Prishtina (1921), Nji shkurtim kujtimesh mbi kryengritjen shqiptare të vjetit 1912 [Brief Memoir on the Albanian Uprising of 1912], Elsie, Robert, archived from the original on 2013-10-15, retrieved 2013-10-14
3. Durime P. Zherka (December 9, 2008), The Price of Life: Memories from a Long Lasting Grief, AuthorHouse, p. 10, ISBN 978-1438917665, retrieved 2013-10-12
4. Mithat Q. Begolli (2012), Gani Perolli (ed.), KRYEZINJTË E GJAKOVËS, pp. 235–236, ISBN 978-1304127679
5. 50 agjentet sekrete me te famshem shqiptare [Top 50 famous Albanian secret agents] (in Albanian), shqiperia.com, retrieved 2013-10-14
6. Ahmet Qeriqi (2012-10-14), Ngjarje: '14 Tetor 1927 Vritet Ceno Bej Kryeziu' [Event, October 14, 1927, Ceno Bey Kryeziu gets killed] (in Albanian), Gazeta Kritika, archived from the original on October 12, 2013, retrieved 2013-10-11
7. Robert Elsie (December 24, 2012), A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History, I. B. Tauris, p. 260, ISBN 978-1780764313, retrieved 2013-10-14
8. Ragip Megjuani (2013-04-14), Këto 21-22 vjet mediumet e Kosovës , sidomos gazetat bënë krim në të vërtetën historike shkencore kombëtare [These 21-22 years, Kosovo media, especially newspapers, performed a real crime over the national scientific historical truth] (in Albanian), ALbanianPress.com, archived from the original on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2013-10-12
9. Owen Pearson (April 3, 2007), Albania in the Twentieth Century, A History, vol. 3, I. B. Tauris, p. 300, ISBN 978-1845111052, retrieved 2013-01-14
10. Robert Elsie (December 24, 2012), A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History, I. B. Tauris, p. 262, ISBN 978-1780764313, retrieved 2013-10-14
11. Enver Hoxha (1982), The Anglo-American Threat to Albania: Memoirs of the National Liberation War (PDF) (1 ed.), Nëntori, pp. 320–321, ASIN B0000D5S7C, retrieved 2013-10-11