Enver Hoxha's Family Life

As leader of Albania from 1941 to 1985, Enver Hoxha's public life is well documented. However, less coverage is given to the private side of the man, including his family life.

Early family life

Born to Halil and Gjylihan Hoxha in Ergiri in 1908, Enver was the only boy among four children - he had three sisters: Fahrije, Haxhire and Sanije Hoxha. Born into a political family, his uncle Hysen Hoxha was a delegate of the Albanian Declaration of Independence.

Wife and children

Enver married Nexhmije Xhuglini, chairwoman of the Secretariat of the (Communist) Albanian Women's League, after World War II, and she remained active in politics throughout the following decades. She gave birth to three children, Ilir, Sokol and Pranvera, all of whom remained in the public eye after their father's death; Ilir released a memoir of his father's life, Sokol was CEO of the Albanian Post and Telecommunication service and Pranvera earned renown as an architect.

Family man

Few knew Hoxha as anything other than the strongman leader of Albania, but according to his son Ilir, he was a "model parent who loved us, reprimanded us, advised us and taught us social morality."

Keeping it in the family

Hoxha died in 1985 from a stroke at the age of 76, following several years of ill health. His brother-in-law, Ramiz Alia, was assigned many responsibilities in the years prior to Hoxha's death and succeeded him as First Secretary after he passed away. Alia fared better than another brother-in-law, Bahri Omari, who was executed upon Hoxha's orders in 1945.

Delving into Hoxha's private life certainly presents a curious side of the man known primarily as the leader of a nation. For further reading, his son Ilir's memoir provides an intriguing if perhaps biased look at this polarizing Albanian leader.