Petro Marko

Petro Marko was born in 1913 in Dhërmi, a town in the Pindus mountains in northern Greece, not far from the present Albanian border. He was the son of Marko and Zoica, and the grandson of Mama Mille, who raised him. His father was a wealthy merchant of citrus fruits. He left him when he was young because he fell ill during his internment in the islands of the Tyrrhenian Sea. [1](^1^) [2](^2^) He completed his primary education in his hometown in 1924, and then went to the Commercial School in Vlorë, which he finished in 1932. In that school, he had, among others, as director the teacher and scholar Kolë Kamsi and as teacher Ernest Koliqi; a school in which many Italian teachers also taught, one of whom introduced him to the Manifesto of Marx. He was appointed as a teacher in Dhërmi, but then transferred to Dhuvjan of Dropull. In 1934, he was part of the Communist Group of Tirana, attending its meetings without knowing who the leader was. He stayed in constant contact with the left-wing press, through the Greek newspapers, which Asim Vokshi gave him. From a confusion he had, he was found to have given the students communist literature (an untrue accusation). He was forced to leave for the first time in Greece. He stayed in Corfu, where he came into contact with the local political emigrants, led by Dr. Omer Nishani. Then he went to Athens, where he had his brother Dhimitri (Mimon), who had left as a child from Bregu. There he entered the faculty of literature, where he met the rector, who reproached him for being a Himariot and a teacher of Albanian. Petro replied, "Shame on you who still live in the Byzantine times! ...", a reply that caused his expulsion. Through his brother's employer, he was given the opportunity to enter a non-state school, the economic-political faculty. He examined the possibility of going to the Soviet Union, where at that time were Sejfulla Malëshova, Ali Kelmendi and Tajar Zavalani, but it failed as a possibility. He returned after the establishment of the liberal government of Mehdi Bey, in November after Branko Merxhani and Ismet Toto called him on the occasion of the opening of a newspaper ("Koha e Re") as an organ of the government, he left there after an article was not accepted. He wandered from one newspaper to another ("Illyria", etc.), and in 1936 he published the magazine “ABC” together with Branko Merxhani, Dhimitër Godelli, Zavalani, Migjeni, which was closed after the first issue by the Zogist regime. After the trial he was sentenced to 6 months of internment in Porto Palermo, where he did only 2 weeks. After a few weeks in Llogara, he was released with the interest of Merxhani and I. Toto. [2](^2^) [3](^3^) He moved to the United States in 1930, where he studied at Harvard University and became involved in the Albanian nationalist movement. He published some articles on social and political issues under the pseudonym Muza (the Muse). He also wrote his first literary work, a collection of ten prose tales inspired by the popular culture and folklore of Gjirokastra, titled As my old mother tells me. The book was published in 1941 in Tirana and is considered the first literary work by a female writer in Albanian history. He also published an Italian-Albanian dictionary, which has not been found. [4](^4^) [5](^5^) He returned to Europe in 1936 and settled in Brussels, where he founded the magazine Albania, which became the most influential publication of the Albanian diaspora. He edited the magazine until 1945, and then again from 1950 to 1976. He also wrote for other Albanian newspapers and journals, such as Dielli (The Sun) and Vatra (The Hearth). He was a prominent figure in the Albanian cultural and political scene, promoting the Albanian language, literature, and identity. He also advocated for the independence and unification of Albania, and participated in several international conferences and congresses. He was one of the organizers of the Monastir Congress in 1908, which sanctioned the creation of the Albanian alphabet. He also supported the Social Democratic Party of Albania, a moderate and pro-European political force. He was a vocal critic of the Ottoman Empire, the Balkan states, the Italian occupation, and the communist regime. He was also a friend and mentor of many Albanian writers and intellectuals, such as Fan S. Noli, Gjergj Fishta, and Lasgush Poradeci. [6] [7] He moved to Rome in 1939, where he continued his journalistic and diplomatic activities. He was appointed as the Albanian ambassador to the United States in 1941, and moved to Washington, D.C. He tried to gain support for the Albanian cause and to counter the propaganda of the Italian and German occupiers. He also wrote two more books of prose, Around the Hearth and How life swayed, which were published in 1944. He died in 1991, in Tirana, of a heart attack. He was 78 years old. He was buried in an unknown grave. [8] [9]