The symbol of national resistance, Adem Demaci, would today mark his 90th birthday. Originally from the village of Lupq in Podujeva, Demaci was born on February 26, 1936, in Pristina and died on July 26, 2018.
Adem Demaci was an activist for the national cause during the time of Yugoslavia, fighting for Kosovo’s equality with the other republics of Yugoslavia.
For his political engagement, Adem Demaci spent 28 consecutive years in Yugoslav prisons. After his release, he immediately continued his political activity. He is also referred to as the Nelson Mandela of Europe.
Adem Demaci led the Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) from 1990 to 1995.
In 1991, he was honored by the European Parliament with the Sakharov Prize. During the 1998–1999 period, when the Rambouillet meetings were being held on Kosovo’s future, he served as the political spokesperson of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
He was chairman of the Writers’ Association of Kosovo (2005–2007). Today, people of the national resistance identify with the name of Adem Demaci, because through his work and deeds he became a symbol of unity for the preservation of the Albanian nation for over five decades.
Through his life and work, Adem Demaci remains a personality of broad historical dimensions, forming part of universal human history, including our own national history.
He wrote the novel “The Snakes of Blood”, which was banned by the former communist regime. It was only published after the 1990s.
