125 years since the birth of Llazar Fundo, the intellectual who signed the foundations of the EU

2024-03-20 20:53:00, Kulturë CNA

125 years since the birth of Llazar Fundo, the intellectual who signed the

Like today, on March 20, 1899, Llazar Fundo, the intellectual who signed the foundations of the EU, was born.

Today marks 125 years since the birth of the idealist, intellectual Llazar Fundo, who, together with other international intellectuals, participated in the drafting of the Ventotena manifesto for a free and united Europe, which encouraged the creation of a federation of European states, which was supposed to kept European countries away from war.

In his 45 years of life, Llazar Fundo traveled almost everywhere, propagandizing what he thought was the great cause of his life.

He was one of the main political figures with leftist beliefs in Albania during the time of the kingdom and during World War II.

He was personally acquainted with prominent figures in the world, such as Hemingway, Barbys, Roland, Kashen, Leopold Infeld, Einstein. These, as well as many others, have given away their wines with autograph notes.

A little history, who was Lazar Fundo?

125 years since the birth of Llazar Fundo, the intellectual who signed the

Llazar Fundo, known as Zai Fundo, was born in Korça on March 20, 1899 in a merchant family originally from Voskopoja. He attended the French Lyceum in Thessaloniki, then studied law at the Sorbonne in Paris, where he came into contact with communist ideas. In 1923 he returned to Albania with the profession of lawyer. He was an activist and chairman of Avni Rustemi's "Bashkimi" society, a well-known exponent of the communist movement, then a social-democratic journalist. Meanwhile, he participated in the Society "Bashkimi" (1922-1925) and after the murder of Avni Rustemi in 1924, he was elected chairman of the society and directed the newspaper "Bashkimi". At the end of December, when the Government of Noli fell, he left his homeland for Italy, Austria, Germany, France and Russia.

During this time he collaborated with the newspaper "Liria Kombëtare" of Omer Nishan. During his stay in Vienna, he joined the Balkan Communist Federation, which included the Kosovo Committee, where Zai Fundo was active. He then emigrated to the USSR, graduated in philosophy in Moscow and gave lectures on this subject in Leningrad and joined the Comintern.

Document - Llazar Fundo was the drafter of the Ventotene Manifesto "For a free and united Europe"
June 28, 09:51

He participated in the 8th Congress of the Balkan Communist Federation where he discussed the formation of the communist party in Albania, helping to form the Communist Group of Korça.

In 1933, he was in Germany where he saw the Reichstag Fire and left for the Soviet Union with the Leipzig judge, Georgi Dimitrov. He was sentenced to death by the Comintern for his anti-Stalinist stance in 1938, but Dimitrov, then the head of the Comintern, overturned the decision.

In 1939, after the Italian invasion, he returned to his homeland and started working as a high school teacher. Removed after a year for his anti-Italian activity together with Ali Këlcyra, with whom he disagrees in the political opinion of the center-left. Captured by the Italians and exiled to the infamous island of Ventotene. He would be there with Safet Butka, Muzafer Pipa, Isuf Luzaj, Altiero Spinelli and Sandro Pertini.

Fundo had become a communist in Paris during his university studies. As his intelligence and knowledge of several languages ??added to his faith, his political commitment had reached beyond Albania, and when Dimitrov was arrested after the Reichstag fire, Fundo was in Berlin as one of his collaborators. He escaped arrest and re-entered Moscow where he worked at International. When the wind of the great purges started, he, a loyal communist, but educated in a liberal cultural atmosphere in democratic countries, had frequented quite a few opponents of Stalin...

In Ventotene, he had naturally become close to ex-communists and socialists, with whom he often spoke about the curse of Stalin's regime. Otherwise he walked calmly, upright, beautiful with blond hair that blew in the wind, muttering softly the words of Plato that he was reading in Greek, searching in the ancient texts for the peace of mind that the failure of the experience had taken from him. his communist and that he could not find him anywhere... After September 8, when he was released and the last group of Ventotene internees, Lazar Fundo went down to the coast of Apulia, crossed to Albania, got to know the communist partisans, telling them who he was and who was coming to fight with them, he put himself behind the wall and was shot. Was he forty years old? I want to hope that, apart from me, there is an Albanian in the world who remembers him".

Document - How the communist group of Korça accused Zai Fundo as a traitor
February 4, 19:14

With the two Italian federalists, together with his friend Stavro Skëndin, they draft the Manifesto of Ventotene.

After the fascist regime took its toll in 1943, despite the fraternal and friendly support that Sandro Pertini gave him, in a last meeting with him in Rome, in August 1943; who wanted to convince him to stay in Italy to fight fascism with him, he decides to return to Albania to fight. He joins the Kryeziu brothers and the British mission near them in the Highlands of Gjakova.

In September 1944, he was captured by the Yugoslav partisans on Mount Dobrej in Tropoja and handed over to the Albanian communists. Convicted of "Trotskyism" and collaboration with the British Intelligence Service. He was arrested and killed by the partisan forces in Kolesjan of Kukës on September 23, 1944.

In the radiogram of Enver Hoxha on September 21, 1944, it is said: "Zai Fundon torture him to death and then shoot him"./ CNA