Today marks six years since the death of national activist Adem Demaçi, known as Kosovo’s Nelson Mandela.
Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has honored Demaçi’s life and legacy on the sixth anniversary of his passing.
“Today marks six years since the death of Adem Demaçi, the compass of freedom for the people and society of Kosovo. Over the years, both during his life and after his death, he has been called the ‘symbol of resistance’ and compared to Nelson Mandela. However, beyond these epithets, Adem Demaçi’s profile is much more complex because his life was lived in such an authentic manner. A journalist and writer, activist and intellectual, persecuted and imprisoned political figure, peace laureate, political representative of freedom fighters, thinker and critic—Adem Demaçi embodied the Albanian national cause from his youth, firmly attached to ‘Mother Albania,’ as his mother advised him. A scholar of world literature and reader of Hegelian philosophy, Adem Demaçi became the most powerful mind and the boldest voice articulating the political interests of Albanians in Yugoslavia during the latter half of the 20th century,” wrote Kurti.
He added that Demaçi’s work and life were one.
“All generations of political activists and Albanian patriots, from the demonstrators of ’68 and ’81 to the fighters of the Kosovo Liberation Army and the builders of the democratic state of the Republic of Kosovo, are united in the personality and historical figure of Adem Demaçi. His written and lived work, stemming from his political activism and imprisonment, his courageous resistance, persistent and selfless engagement, and his publicly articulated political thought in numerous gatherings, writings, and interviews, all that he has said and done, and all that he has refused to do and support, constitute a chapter in the modern history of Albanian political thought and progressive policymaking in Kosovo. Demaçi’s work and life were one, because Baci Adem wrote his life into his work and lived his written work, in prison or freedom, in books or organizations, everywhere and at all times, every day until his last breath. Eternal glory to Adem Demaçi, amid honors and memories, bringing attention back to his work and life,” wrote the Prime Minister.
