The Albanian-American activist, Prof. Sami Repishti

2024-11-27 18:38:05, Aktualitet CNA

Prof. Sami Repishti, survivor of the prisons of communism in Albania, passed away on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at the age of 99.

Prof. Repishti was born in the Dudas neighborhood of Shkodra on April 6, 1925. After studying for a year in Florence, Italy, he returned to Albania in 1943. He was arrested in 1946 on charges of "Agitation and propaganda against the state".

For 14 months he was subjected to torture by the State Security.

"I went through a very difficult period with the most inhumane torture imaginable. Even today, my body still trembles when I remember the way they treated us, how badly they treated us", he said to the Voice of America in June 2019, about his life and suffering during communism.

He was sentenced to 15 years in prison, of which he served 10 years in Shkodra prison and forced labor camps.

In 1956 he was released from prison and 4 years later, in 1960, he escaped to Yugoslavia. After a year, in 1961 he went to Italy and in 1962 he finally immigrated to the United States.

He continued his advanced studies in French, receiving doctorates from the City University of New York and the University of Paris. He had a long career as an educator and lecturer. Throughout his life in the United States, Prof. Repishti had a continuous activism on issues related to Albanians. In 1996 he founded the Albanian-American National Council and served as its president until 1998.

He has testified several times before Congress and has represented the Albanian-American community in the White House and the State Department. He has long been the leader of the cultural and political activities of this community and was a respected member of it.

Prof. Repishti is the author of the books "Under the Shadow of Rozafa", where he describes his suffering during the communist regime and "Pika Loti" dedicated to his fellow sufferers in prison./ VOA