Pandeli Evangjeli

Who was Pandeli Evangjeli?

Pandeli Evangjeli was an Albanian politician and Prime Minister of Albania twice. He was the first Orthodox Christian to become chief of the Albanian government.

Born in Korçë in 1859, he spent most of his youth in the Albania colony of Bucharest. He became chairman of the society "Dituria" in 1897, and contributed in the establishment of a local "Committee for the Liberation of Albania", one of the many of that time. Evangjeli became prefect of his native city in 1914, after coming back from Romania.

As part of the government of Sulejman Delvina he was shortly part of the Albanian delegation in the Paris Peace Conference in 1920. After that he was elected member of the parliament, and shorty Prime Minister from October 16, 1921. From 1922 to 1924 he was Foreign Minister. During Fan Noli's tenure after the June Revolution he exiled in Romania, returning in 1925 when he was elected Head of the Senate. As a representative of Korça, he headed the session which proclaimed Albania as a Constitutional Monarchy and Ahmet Zogu as King of Albania. A strong supporter of Zog, he directed three cabinets as Prime Minister from 1930 to 1935. He was replaced by Mehdi Frashëri after the critics received for "failing to maintain peace and order" during the Revolt of Fier, 1935. He served as Parliamentary President until the Italian invasion of 1939.

Although he was considered a pro-Italian, and his name appears in the Assembly list of 1943, he did not play any active role during WWII. The communist regime did not persecute him. Evangjeli died in Korçë in 1949.