Today, 11th April 2025, marks the 40th death anniversary of communist revolutionary and leader of Socialist Albania, Enver Hoxha. A controversial political figure, Hoxha led Albania from 1944 to 1985.
Enver Halil Hoxha was born on 16 October 1908 in Gjirokastër. He graduated from the lycée in Korçë in 1930 and then studied at the University of Montpellier in France. He was a school teacher at the French lycée in Korcë until the Italian invasion of Albania in 1939, whereupon he was dismissed for refusing to join the newly-formed Albanian Fascist Party. Hoxha then opened a tobacco shop in Tiranë, which, in time, became the center for a communist cell.
In 1941 he helped found the Communist Party of Albania - in 1948 the was renamed into Party of Labour of Albania). He was a member of the party’s Central Committee and became the party’s general secretary in 1943. From 1942 to 1945 Hoxha was a member of the Presidium and chairman of the National Liberation Front of Albania (since August 1945 the Democratic Front of Albania).
Hoxha commanded the National Liberation Army (since 1945 the Albanian People’s Army) from 1944 to 1954. He was minister of defense from 1944 to 1953. He also served from 1944 to 1946 as head of the Provisional Democratic Government, from 1946 to 1954 as chairman of the Council of Ministers, and from 1946 to 1953 as minister of foreign affairs.
In 1948 Hoxha broke relations with Yugoslavia and drew closer to the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin, for whom he held a life-long admiration. Following Stalin's death and Nikita Krushchev's "secret speech" denouncing him, Hoxha and the PLA broke with the Soviet Union and formed a bloc with the Communist Party of China in denouncing the post-Stalin USSR as "revisionist".
Hoxha was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the PLA from 1948 to 1954, when he became the Central Committee’s First Secretary. He was made chairman of the General Council of the Democratic Front of Albania in 1945. In 1954 he was elected a member of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. In 1976, Hoxha was named commander in chief of the armed forces and chairman of the Defense Council.
Enver Hoxha retired from active politics in 1981. The reins of government were handed to Hoxha's protegé, Ramiz Alia, who succeeded him upon his death in 1985.
Hoxha commanded the National Liberation Army (since 1945 the Albanian People’s Army) from 1944 to 1954. He was minister of defense from 1944 to 1953. He also served from 1944 to 1946 as head of the Provisional Democratic Government, from 1946 to 1954 as chairman of the Council of Ministers, and from 1946 to 1953 as minister of foreign affairs.
In 1948 Hoxha broke relations with Yugoslavia and drew closer to the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin, for whom he held a life-long admiration. Following Stalin's death and Nikita Krushchev's "secret speech" denouncing him, Hoxha and the PLA broke with the Soviet Union and formed a bloc with the Communist Party of China in denouncing the post-Stalin USSR as "revisionist".
Hoxha was General Secretary of the Central Committee of the PLA from 1948 to 1954, when he became the Central Committee’s First Secretary. He was made chairman of the General Council of the Democratic Front of Albania in 1945. In 1954 he was elected a member of the Presidium of the People’s Assembly. In 1976, Hoxha was named commander in chief of the armed forces and chairman of the Defense Council.
Enver Hoxha retired from active politics in 1981. The reins of government were handed to Hoxha's protegé, Ramiz Alia, who succeeded him upon his death in 1985.
Sources: Great Soviet Encyclopedia & marxists.org
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