In Zhupë, Mazrrek was born Dom Nikollë Mazrreku, Catholic clergyman, writer, polemicist. He completed his primary and secondary education in Shkodër, while his higher education in Rome. In 1936 he was ordained a priest. After a year he returned to Albania. He was elected secretary of the bishop and, later, of the Apostolic Delegate, Monsignor Ildebrando Antoniuti. From 1942 to 1945 he served as parish priest in Kryezi. He was arrested in May 1946 and sentenced to 5 years in prison, which he served in Shkodër. After his release, he was interned in Tepelena and Lushnjë. In 1955 he was released from exile and was appointed to Pulaj of the Archdiocese of Shkodra. In the same year, he moved to his diocese in Dardë and then in Laç of Vau of Deja. From Laçi, he directed the construction of the great altar of Shkodra Cathedral (1958). He was interned again in Lushnjë, Çermë, Gradishtë, etc. He was released in 1965 and lived with his sister in Shkodra. He was arrested again in April 1967 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was released in 1987. After the reopening of the churches, although at an advanced age, he served as a parish priest in Laç of Vaut of Deja and in the service of Caritas in the city of Shkodra, until he passed away in 1996, near his sister’s family. (In the photo: Nikolle Mazrreku)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. V , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2016, page 251-252.
Photo: © Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana.
Graphic processing: AHCF
