Murat Toptani, patriot, poet, sculptor, was born on July 14, 1867. After attending higher studies in “Gallata Saraj”, he settled in Tirana and devoted himself entirely to the national issue. In 1897, the Turkish government exiled and imprisoned him as a disturbing element. He escaped from prison and settled in Brindizi, Italy. There he published the pamphlet “Albania of Albanians” and the poems “Vllaznia”, “The Sword of Skanderbeg”. He participated in the National Assembly of Vlora in 1912. Murat Toptani died in Tirana on February 20, 1918.

On July 14, 1913, Hiqmet Dibra, a neurologist, was born in Dibër e Madhe. He completed his primary and secondary school in Tirana, while his higher education at the Faculty of Medicine of the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1939. In November 1941 he defended his thesis for the title of Doctor of the University of Sorbonne-Paris. In February 1945, he was head of the neuro-medicine department near the Tirana Military General Hospital and in 1954, head of the first clinic near this hospital. He has written 27 scientific articles with about 300 pages published in scientific bulletins. He died in Tirana on October 11, 1969.

On July 14, 1925, the popular fighter Mehmet Konjuhi died. He was a prominent fighter and leader of the armed struggle against Serbian rule in the years 1918-1925. The Serbian army and gendarmerie massacred seven members of the family. Due to constant persecution, he was forced to move to Turkey, where he died poisoned by Serbian agents.

On July 14, 2018, Stan Dragoti, a well-known American Albanian, passed away. He was born in New York on October 4, 1932. He was awarded by Albania with the high title “Honour of the Nation”. At the time of the Kosova war, Stan Dragoti was one of the most active Albanian-American intellectuals in protecting the rights of his nation. Stan Dragoti is originally from Dragoti of Tepelena. He is the son of Asllan Dragot, the outstanding activist of Vatra Association of Albanians in the US, and supporter of Fan Noli. The ruins of his house are still in the Tepelena village of origin.

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