Nikollë Mazreku
Dom Nikollë Mazreku (Zhupë, Mazrek, Shkodër County, Albania, December 28, 1912–Shkodër, Albania, May 2, 1996) was an Albanian Roman Catholic priest, author, and polemist who wrote under the pseudonym Nik Barcolla.
Biography[edit]
Mazreku was born in Zhupë, Mazrek, during the Siege of Scutari when Shkodër was occupied by the armies of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Montenegro. He went to the Shkodër Jesuit College and enrolled at the Albanian Pontifical Seminary in 1924. In 1932, he moved on to the Pontificio Collegio Urbano de Propaganda Fide for further theology studies. On February 10, 1936, he was ordained a priest by Cardinal F. Biondi, and a year after he earned his Bachelor’s degree in canon law, he returned to Albania to serve as chancellor for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë.
In 1939, he was appointed secretary of the apostolic delegate in Shkodër. In 1940, he became a parish priest in Tirana and was active in both the parish and the local Society of Jesus, organizing a “Catholic Action” circle among young people. He published pamphlets opposing the Italian occupation and was transferred to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë in retaliation. With the rise of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Mazreku was arrested on May 11, 1946, and sentenced to five years in prison in Shkodër. After his release, he was interned in Tepelenë and Lushnjë. In 1955, he was welcomed back from exile and appointed to the parish of Pulaj in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodër–Pult, moving on the same year to Dardhë and Vau i Dejës in the same diocese. In Vau i Dejës, he helped organize the construction of the altar of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, Shkodër in 1958, and later was detained in Lushnjë, Çermë Proshkë, and Gradishtë. In 1965, he was released again to live with his sister in Shkodër. He was arrested again in April 1967, and this time was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Released in 1987, he served in his old age as a parish priest at the reopened church in Vau i Dejës and with Caritas Internationalis in Shkodër. He died in 1996, surrounded by his sister’s family.[1]
Work[edit]
Under the pseudonym Nik Barcolla, Dom Nikolle Mazreku published a series of novels and poems in the magazines, LEKA and Kumbona e diellës. He also wrote the pamphlets “Veprimi katolik” and “Skandali Cordignano dhe mbrojtja e kombit shqiptar,” as well as his letter “Me flamujt e Kastriotëve,"[1] which he wrote from Burrel Prison.[2]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hoxha, Çelo; Qazimi, Azem (ed.) (2016). Fjalor enciklopedik i viktimave të terrorit komunist L-M (PDF). Tiranë: Institute for the Study of the Crimes of Communism. pp. 251–252. ISBN 978-9928-168-01-6. Retrieved 29 September 2020.CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link) Search this book on
- ↑ Simoni, Bishop Zef (2006). Letërsia shqipe e pame ndryshe. Shkodër: Botime Françeskane. p. 169. ISBN 9994386336. Search this book on
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