Enver Hoxha

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For the Kosovar Foreign Minister, see Enver Hoxhaj.
"Hoxha" redirects here. For other people, see Hoxha (surname).

Enver Hoxha

Hoxha in 1971

First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania

In office
8 November 1941 – 11 April 1985

Preceded by Position established

Succeeded by Ramiz Alia

22nd Prime Minister of Albania

In office

23 October 1944 – 19 July 1954

President Omer Nishani

 Haxhi Lleshi

Deputy Myslim Peza

Koçi Xoxe

Mehmet Shehu

Preceded by Ibrahim Biçakçiu

Succeeded by Mehmet Shehu

Minister of Foreign Affairs

In office

22 March 1946 – 23 July 1953

Prime Minister Himself

Preceded by Omer Nishani

Succeeded by Behar Shtylla

Personal details

Born Enver Halil Hoxha

16 October 1908

Ergiri (Gjirokastër), Janina Vilayet, Ottoman

Empire

Died 11 April 1985 (aged 76)

Tirana, Albania

Resting place People's Cemetery, Tirana, Albania

Political party Party of Labour of Albania (1941–1985)

 Nexhmije Xhuglini
Spouse(s)
 

(m. 1945)

Ilir
Children
Sokol

Pranvera

Alma mater University of Montpellier

Free University of Brussels

Religion  State atheism

 Sunni Islam (previously)

Signature

Military service

Allegiance LANÇ (1941–1945)

People's Republic of Albania (1944–1985)

Branch/service LANÇ (1941–1945)

Albanian People's Army (1944–1985)

Years of service 1941–1985

Rank Army General

Commands LANÇ

Albanian People's Army (supreme commander)

Battles/wars World War II

Enver Halil Hoxha (/ˈhɒdʒə/ HOJ-ə,[1] Albanian: [ɛnˈvɛɾ ˈhɔdʒa] ( listen); 16 October 1908 –

11 April 1985)[2] was an Albanian communist revolutionary and dictator who served as
the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania, from 1941 until his death in 1985.
He was also a member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, chairman of
the Democratic Front of Albania, commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944
until his death. He served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and
at various times served as both foreign minister and defence minister of the People's
Socialist Republic of Albania.
 Born in Gjirokastër in 1908, Hoxha became a grammar school teacher in 1936.
Following Italy's invasion of Albania, he joined the Party of Labour of Albania at its
creation in 1941 in the Soviet Union. Hoxha was elected First Secretary in March 1943
at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy
was formally abolished, and Hoxha rose to power as Albania's symbolic head of state.
During his 40-year rule, he rebuilt the country, which was left in ruins after World War II,
building Albania's first railway line, raising the adult literacy rate from 5% to more than
90%, wiping out epidemics, electrifying the country and leading Albania towards
agricultural independence. He also outlawed religion, travelling abroad, and private
proprietorship, closed or converted to secular uses all of Albania's religious facilities.
Under his regime, thousands of perceived dissidents were executed, and tens of
thousands more were imprisoned in forced labour camps.[3][4]
Hoxha's government was characterised by his proclaimed firm adherence to anti-
revisionist Marxism–Leninism, i.e. Stalinism, from the mid/late-1970s onwards. After
his break with Maoism in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Maoist parties around the
world declared themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist
Parties and Organisations (Unity & Struggle) is the best-known association of these
parties.

Contents

 1Early life
 2Partisan life
o 2.1Disagreement with Yugoslav communists
 3Early leadership (1946–1965)
o 3.1Relations with Yugoslavia
o 3.2Relations with the Soviet Union
 3.2.1Movement towards China and Maoism
 3.2.2Friction with the Soviet Union
 4Later rule (1965–1985)
o 4.1Relations with China
 4.1.1Shift in Chinese foreign policy after the Cultural Revolution
o 4.2Political repressions and emigration
o 4.3Religion
o 4.4Cultivating nationalism
o 4.5Rejecting Western mass media culture
 5Later life and death
 6Family
 7Assassination attempts
 8Awards
 9Partial list of works
 10See also
 11References
o 11.1Sources
 12External links
Early life[edit]

The site of the house where Hoxha grew up in Gjirokastër. The original home was lost to a fire in the 1960s.

Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër in southern Albania (then a part of the Ottoman Empire),
the son of Halil Hoxha, a Muslim Tosk cloth merchant who travelled widely across
Europe and the US, and Gjylihan (Gjylo) Hoxha née Çuçi. The name Hoxha,
in Turkish hoca (pronounced hodja), means "Master" or a "Teacher". His surname
(which is the most common one in Albania) is derived from the noun khawaja which
when used specifically in the Albanian language refers to a Muslim priest, given that
some of his paternal ancestors have likely been the members of the Muslim clergy
(ulema).[5] He was named by his father after the renowned Ottoman military officer and
revolutionary Enver Pasha.[6]
The Hoxha family originated from the village of Dropull[7] and was attached to
the Bektashi Order. In 1916 his father brought him to seek the blessing of Baba Selim of
the Zall Teqe.[8]
After elementary school, he followed his studies in the city senior high school "Liria". He
started his studies at the Gjirokastër Lyceum in 1923. After the lyceum was closed, due
to intervention of Ekrem Libohova[9] Hoxha was awarded a state scholarship for the
continuation of his studies in Korçë, at the French language Albanian National
Lyceum until 1930.[10]

Hoxha at the age of 18

In 1930, Hoxha went to study at the University of Montpellier in France on a state
scholarship for the faculty of natural science, but lost an Albanian state scholarship for
neglecting his studies. He later went to Paris, where he presented himself to anti-Zogist
immigrants as the brother-in-law of Bahri Omari.[11]
From 1935 to 1936, he was employed as a secretary at the Albanian consulate
in Brussels. After returning to Albania, he worked as a contract teacher in the
Gymnasium of Tirana. Hoxha taught French and morals in the Korça Liceum from 1937
to 1939 and also served as the caretaker of the school library. [11]
On 7 April 1939, Albania was invaded by Fascist Italy.[12] The Italians established a
puppet government, the Albanian Kingdom (1939–43), under Shefqet Vërlaci.[13] At the
end of 1939, he was transferred to the Gjirokastra Gymnasium, but he soon returned to
Tirana. He was helped by his best friend, Esat Dishnica, who introduced Hoxha to
Dishnica's cousin Ibrahim Biçakçiu. Hoxha started to sleep in Biçakçiu's tobacco factory
"Flora", and after a while Dishnica opened a shop with the same name, where Hoxha
began working.[14] He was a sympathiser of Korça's Communist Group. [15]

Partisan life[edit]

Hoxha in uniform, 1940

Hoxha as a partisan, 1944

On 8 November 1941, the Communist Party of Albania (later renamed the Party of

Labour of Albania in 1948) was founded. Hoxha was chosen from the "Korça group" as
a Muslim representative by the two Yugoslav envoys as one of the seven members of
the provisional Central Committee. The First Consultative Meeting of Activists of the
Communist Party of Albania was held in Tirana from 8 to 11 April 1942, [16] with Hoxha
himself delivering the main report on 8 April 1942. [17]
In July 1942, Hoxha wrote "Call to the Albanian Peasantry", issued in the name of the
Communist Party of Albania.[18] The call sought to enlist support in Albania for the war
against the fascists. The peasants were encouraged to hoard their grain and refuse to
pay taxes or livestock levies brought by the government. [19] After the September 1942
Conference at Pezë, the National Liberation Movement was founded with the purpose
of uniting the anti-fascist Albanians, regardless of ideology or class.[citation needed]
By March 1943, the first National Conference of the Communist Party elected Hoxha
formally as First Secretary. During WWII, the Soviet Union's role in Albania was
negligible.[20] On 10 July 1943, the Albanian partisans were organised in regular units of
companies, battalions and brigades and named the Albanian National Liberation Army.
The organization received military support from the British intelligence service, SOE.
[21]
 The General Headquarters was created, with Spiro Moisiu as the commander and
Hoxha as political commissar. The Yugoslav Partisans had a much more practical role,
helping to plan attacks and exchanging supplies, but communication between them and
the Albanians was limited and letters would often arrive late, sometimes well after a plan
had been agreed upon by the National Liberation Army without consultation from the
Yugoslav partisans.[citation needed]
Within Albania, repeated attempts were made during the war to remedy the
communications difficulties which faced partisan groups. In August 1943, a secret
meeting, the Mukje Conference, was held between the anti-communist Balli
Kombëtar (National Front) and the Communist Party of Albania. The result of this was
an agreement to: