81 years since the shooting of Llazar Fundo/ A show on "Opinion", dedicated to the figure of the Albanian intellectual

2025-09-23 09:54:00, Aktualitet CNA

81 years since the shooting of Llazar Fundo/ A show on "Opinion",

Lazarus Fundo

This Tuesday, at 10:00 PM, Blendi Fevziu's "Opinion" show will exclusively broadcast a report dedicated to the figure of Llazar Fundo, in commemoration of the 81st anniversary of his execution on September 23, 1944.

The report brings images and testimonies from the journey of a team from Albania to the Italian island of Ventotene, where during World War II hundreds of European and Albanian anti-fascists, intellectuals, philosophers, political activists, who later became the authors of the first ideas of the European Union, were interned.

Among them was Llazar Fundo, one of the most educated intellectuals of the time, a polyglot, educated at the Sorbonne and politically active in Albania and abroad.

Zai Fundo, photo from Ventotene prison

Exiled to the island of Ventotene as an anti-fascist, he would come into contact with Italian ideologists, Altiero Spinelli and Ernesto Rossi, with whom Fundo would draft the "Ventotene Manifesto", known as the precursor to the Hague Congress and the Schuman Declaration.

The Ventotene Manifesto

This trip, which took place in June, was attended by journalist Blendi Fevziu, director of the show "Opinion" Indrit Kasmi, sculptor Adi Dule, current Speaker of Parliament Niko Peleshi, Chairman of the RTSH Steering Council, Fatjon Hoxhalli, and journalist Elvi Fundo.

Views from the trip to Ventotene

In addition to footage from Ventotene, the show also features an exclusive interview between journalist Blendi Fevziu and Elvi Fundo, where they discuss the complex figure of Llazar Fundo, as well as his clashes with the ideologies of the time.

Elvi Fundo and Blendi Fevziu

Llazar Fundo, known for his critical thinking and rejection of both fascist and communist dictatorships, was imprisoned by the fascist regime in 1939 and exiled to Ventotene. After the fall of the fascist regime and his return to Albania, Fundo was arrested and on September 23, 1944, he was shot without trial by Albanian communists, accused of being an “enemy of the people.”

"Saint Stephen's" Prison

This reportage brings stories from the places where he was interned, reflections on his intellectual contribution, and an attempt to restore him to the collective memory as an important voice of free thought in Albania./ CNA