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Çami too, describes Spiro Koleka as being an important hero in the history of Vlorë and
Albania in general. He writes the following words about him:
By the end of the First World War the Albanian leaders gathered at the Congress of
Lushnja. Among them was also Spiro Gogo 79 Koleka whose presence influenced the
future development of the events in Himarë area. At that time Koleka lived in Vlorë
where together with his friends, Osman Haxhia, Jani Minga, Halim Xhelo and others
organised the revolt against the Italian troops. Koleka and his compatriots wrote
numerous letters to Great Powers or namely to the US president Woodrow Willson
and British premier David Loyd George and others. In their letters Koleka and his
colleagues described the intentions and the will of the inhabitants of Vlorë to liberate
the city from the Italian occupiers and regain control over it.
In this period (1919) a political debate developed about the inclusion of the Albanian
state in the Italian protectorate. But Albania did not agree with Italian plans as it
aspired for the independency. Debates between Albania and Italy also reached the
Himarë area. Following these events brothers Koleka of Vuno decided to rise against
the idea of Italian protectorate. They reported this to American consul Josef Havel and
the representative of the Great Powers on his visit in Himarë. After the First World
War the members of the Congress in Paris decided that Albania will come under the
Italian administration. In May 1920, three to four months before the Congress in
Lusnja, a member of the Albanian Council Spiro Koleka opposed this decision and
together with his compatriots formed the army and revolted against the Italian forces
[…].
[…] The battle in Vlorë started when the Italian army was slowly moving from the
inner part of Albania towards the harbour town of Vlorë. The troops from Vlorë,
Tepelena and Himarë were waiting in the ambush for the Italian forces to come.
Spiro Koleka collaborated in the war as a man of Himarë. When the war was over he
publicly stated that he fought and won the battle in the name of their culture and
brotherhood. Koleka was the first who declared a manifest during the war of Vlorë
where he “presented himself to the world as an Albanian citizen who was like a razor
blade”. Together with his compatriots he was an important figure “not only for the
destiny of Vlorë but also for the destiny of all Albania” (Gazeta “Mbrojtja Kombëtare,
Vlorë 14 October 1920 in Çami 2004: 205-206, translations mine).
The local intellectual Rusha discusses the importance of Koleka from a different position than
Çami:
Throughout the First World War and later in 1920 and in the period when the parliament
of Durrës gathered at the Congress in Lushnja, where it formed the cabinet of Sulejman of
Delvina with its centre in Tirana, and even after the battle in Vlorë which resulted in the
final retreat of the Italian troops from Vlorë (that were occupying the area since 1914) and
Albania, Himarë remained independent. Its independency and the privileges won in the
bloody war with Ottomans were kept also during the period of the Balkan War between
1912 and 1913 though there were several tensions arising in Vlorë region. In order to
solve the tensions, the Albanian government and the leaders of Himarë signed preliminary
agreement. Upon this agreement the people of Himara area were represented in the
Albanian parliament by their delegate Spiro G. Koleka. In the parliament Koleka
demanded and obtained the following rights for Himara area:
79 Foto Bixhili (2004: 253) refers to Spiro Jorgo Koleka. Gogo is a shorter name for Jorgo.
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