Mustafa Merlika-Kruja

Mustafa Kruja ( born March 15, 1887 in Kruja as Mustafa Merlika, † December 27, 1958 in Niagara Falls) was an Albanian politician. He was from 1941 to 1943 Albanian Prime Minister.

Life

Kruja graduated from the Higher School of Administration in Istanbul, which he left in 1910 with a degree in Political and Social Sciences. He participated in the uprising of 1912, which ended with the independence of Albania, part and was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence on 28 November 1912. Kruja was a supporter of William of Wied, who was Prince of Albania after independence for a few months. In World War Kruja lived in Italy. Even after the end of the war he was in favor of a move of Albania to Italy.

Work

In 1921 Kruja was a deputy in the Albanian parliament and 1924 he supported Fan Noli in its formation of a democracy, however, could not prevail against the resistance of the landlords and was toppled in December 1924. After Ahmet Zogu in 1925 came to power, Kruja fled to Italy, from where he returned in 1939. During the occupation of Albania Kruja was dated 3 December 1941 to 10 January 1943, approved by Fascist Italy, Albanian Prime Minister. During his tenure, he saw to it that several hundred Albanian and foreign Jews were able to escape with the help of fake Albanian travel documents before the fascist occupiers. After the seizure of the Communist Party of Albania, he fled to Italy.

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