1. Haxhi Lleshi was an Albanian military leader and communist politician who served as the Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1953 to 1982.
11 Facts About Haxhi Lleshi
1. 2.
Haxhi Lleshi was born to a Sunni Gheg Muslim Albanian family in Diber, North-Central Albania.
3.
Haxhi Lleshi received financial aid from the Yugoslavs, part of which went to sponsor the scattered anti-Italian activities in Albania; most notorious was the guerrilla unit known as "Ceta of Peza".
4.
Haxhi Lleshi, leading 200 men, together with his uncle Aqif Lleshi, leading 100 men, crossed the border and positioned from Ostren i Vogel to Bllate.
5.
The fast advancement of the Nazi army caused the Yugoslav insurgency to fail; the units retreated to Yugoslavia where Haxhi Lleshi was involved and fought alongside the Yugoslav army in the failed short attempt at stopping the Germans from entering Debar.
6.
Haxhi Lleshi was one of the top commanders in Albania's fight against the Italians and Germans during World War II.
7.
Haxhi Lleshi's name was mentioned in a CIA report of 1952 as a Yugoslavian informant, together with Myslym Peza.
8.
On 1 August 1953, Haxhi Lleshi became Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Assembly of Albania, a post equivalent to that of president.
9.
Haxhi Lleshi was nominally the third most powerful man in Albania, behind general secretary Enver Hoxha and prime minister Mehmet Shehu.
10.
Haxhi Lleshi retired from his position as chairman of the Presidium on 22 November 1982, after nearly 30 years in office, when Hoxha reshuffled the government.
11.
Hoxha died three years later, and during the early 1990s, the communist regime fell, but Haxhi Lleshi continued to live in Albania.