Enver Hoxha

First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania

Enver Halil Hoxha 16 October 1908 Ergiri, Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire

11 April 1985(1985-04-11) (76) Tirana, Albania

8 November 1941 – 11 April 1985

20th-century Albanian politician and leader during the Communist era For the Kosovar Foreign Minister, see Enver Hoxhaj. "Hoxha" redirects here. For other people, see Hoxha (surname). Enver Halil Hoxha (/ˈ h ɒ dʒ ə / HOJ -ə, Albanian:  ( listen ) ; 16 October 1908 – 11 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania, from 1941 until his death in 1985. He was also a member of the Politburo of the Party of Labour of Albania, chairman of the Democratic Front of Albania, commander-in-chief of the armed forces from 1944 until his death. He served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954 and at various times served as both foreign minister and defence minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Born in Gjirokastër in 1908, Hoxha became a grammar school teacher in 1936. Following Italy's invasion of Albania, he joined the Party of Labour of Albania at its creation in 1941 in the Soviet Union. Hoxha was elected First Secretary in March 1943 at the age of 34. Less than two years after the liberation of the country, the monarchy was formally abolished, and Hoxha rose to power as Albania's symbolic head of state. During his 40-year rule, he rebuilt the country, which was left in ruins after World War II, building Albania's first railway line, raised the adult literacy rate from 5% to more than 90%, wiping out epidemics, electrifying the country and led Albania towards agricultural independence. He also outlawed religion, traveling abroad, and private property, closed or converted to secular uses all of Albania's religious facilities. Under his regime, thousands of perceived dissidents were executed, and tens of thousands more were imprisoned in forced labor camps. Hoxha's government was characterized by his proclaimed firm adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism, i.e. Stalinism, from the mid/late-1970s onwards. After his break with Maoism in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Maoist parties around the world declared themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle) is the best-known association of these parties.