King Zog

When I first heard of King Zog, I formed a mental picture of a 275-pound barbarian with a wide shaggy beard, one eyebrow, and a spear in hand. With such a name, what would you think? He was no barbarian, however.

Albania has always been regarded as the most backward country in Europe, and it certainly was that in the early twentieth century. It was hardly even a country, but a collection of beyliks. Bey was the Turkish word for village chieftain.

He was born in 1895, son of a bey, his birth name was Ahmet Zogalli, later changed to Zogu. His mother claimed descent from the great Scanderbeg (1405-1468), warrior king, Dragon of Albania, who fought off the troops of the Ottoman Empire for twenty years. When Zog became king, he took the title Zog I, Scanderbeg III. He was educated in Constantinople. He volunteered for service on the side of Austria-Hungary in World War One, after which he was detained in Vienna, then Rome, where he got a taste of western European culture. The Viennese ladies were quite taken with him.

Back home again, he became leader of a major reformist party. Then he was Governor of Shkoder, Minister of the Interior and chief of the military. In 1922 he changed his name to Zog. (Translation: bird) In 1923 he was shot and wounded in Parliament, was forced into exile in 1924. He returned with the help of Yugoslav and White Russian forces to become Prime Minister, was elected to the Presidency in 1925. In 1928 he proclaimed himself King of the Albanians and Field Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army.

He carried out many reforms. Although a Muslim, he abolished Islamic Law, he forbade the wearing of veils, he passed laws against cruelty to animals, he issued the first paper currency, serfdom was gradually eliminated. He established a civil code based on the Swiss model. Upon ascending the throne, he took the oath on both the Koran and the Bible, hoping to unify the country.

He married a Roman Catholic, the Hungarian-American Countess Geraldine Apponyi, with whom he had a son Leka. (1939) (There was a news item a couple of years ago where Leka returned from South Africa and offered to resume the kingship. They weren't interested.)

His regime brought stability to Albania. He organized an educational system and attempted to modernize the army. He established a constitutional monarchy. So much for my imagined barbarian.

His life as king was not always exciting, he spent much of his time playing poker with his sisters. He was addicted to perfumed cigarettes and smoked 150 a day. He is said to have survived over 55 assassination attempts during his reign, so yes, there was some excitement. One of those attempts was at a Vienna opera house as he was getting out of his car. He survived by firing back with a pistol he carried, the only instance in modern history where a Head of State exchanged fire with a potential assassin.

Zog had always been supported by Mussolini and Italian influence grew over the years. During the Great Depression, Albania became almost completely dependant on Italy, to the point where the Albanian national bank was seated in Rome. To make a long story short, relations deteriorated and on Good Friday 1939, Italy invaded and Zog fled into exile with his wife and two-day old Prince Leka. Count Ciano, Mussolini's foreign minister, searching the palace, found a pile of linen in the Queen's quarters, with afterbirth stains. Kicking these across the room, he exclaimed "The cub has escaped!"

Zog managed to escape with the treasury. First he hit the Ritz in London, and Claridges and generally lived the good life. He offered to buy the London Times but was not willing to pay a penny more than ten million. In 1946 he and his family went to Egypt at the behest of King Farouk, but left for the U.S. in 1952 when Farouk was overthrown. He bought an estate in Muttontown, N.Y., but neber lived in the mansion. It was vandalized over the years and today only ruins can be found in the woods. He finally made his home on the French Riviera, took ill and died in 1961, age 65. His Albanian officers had to use force to prevent the hospital staff from taking his body to the chapel, he being a Muslim. He is buried in Paris. Queen Geraldine died, age 87, in 2002 in a military hospital in Tirana, Albania.

And so passed this remarkable person. Few have heard of him and he is but a footnote in history. I would like to have known him.