-On August 1, 1922, the martyr of the communist persecution in Albania, Dom Pjetër Gruda, was born in Gruda,the Highlands of Montenegro. He completed his high education at the Saverian College. He was appointed parish priest in Shkrel, from where he moved to Sheldia, where he stayed until 1967, when the churches were closed n Albania. He was a trained priest and a talented artist of stage art. He staged many theater pieces, among which the drama “Flij Atdheut” /Homeland Martyrs/. He was arrested while serving in Bushat, lower Shkodër and was sent to Saranda Prison, where he passed away on January 13, 1989, only three months before the clergy amnesty.

-On August 1, 1866, the poet Ndre Mjeda, doctor of philosophy and theology, was born in Shkodër. He attended his first lessons in his hometown, while later he studied theology in several European countries. At the Manastir Congress of Albanian Letters, he was elected a member of the commission that drafted the unified alphabet of the Albanian language. During the surge of the democratic movement 1920-24, he took part in political life and was elected MP. After the failure of the June revolution of 1924, he withdrew from political life and devoted himself to religion. Ndre Mjeda is one of the great poets of Albanian literature, the rare master of the verse in Albanian and evoker of love for the country’s history.

-On August 1, 1942, the patriot Abdi Toptani passed away in Tirana. He was born in 1864 in a family with patriotic traditions. He was among the organizers of the anti-Ottoman uprising in 1902. He led the insurgent forces in the highlands of Kruja, Kurbin and Central Albania in 1912. He was elected Minister of Finance in the Government of Vlora of 1912, after the Independence Declaration. In 1914 he was appointed a minister in the Government of Prince Von Wied and a year later he was forced to leave his homeland and emigrate to Switzerland, amid the WWI. In January 1920, he took part in the Congress of Lushnja and was elected a member of the High Council. After two years, he supported and took part in the March 1922 Uprising led by Elez Isufi and Bajram Curri.

-On August 1, 1866, the poet Ndre Mjeda, doctor of philosophy and theology, was born in Shkoder. He attended his first lessons in his hometown, while later he studied theology in several European countries. At the Manastir congress, he was elected a member of the commission that drafted the unified alphabet of the Albanian language. During the surge of the democratic movement 1920-24, he took part in political life and was elected deputy. After the failure of the June revolution, he withdrew from politics and devoted himself to religion. Ndre Mjeda is one of the great poets of Albanian literature.

-On August 1922, at the Congress of Berat, the Albanian Orthodox Church declared itself independent from the Patriarchate of Constantinople. 

/a.p./