Prenk Pervizi

Prenk Pervizi (1897–1977) was an Albanian military figure, General of the Albanian army, who also served as Minister of Defence for a short period during WWII. Pervizi finished the Military Academy in Vienna, Austria, being there during 1914–1918, and later in Torino, 1930–1933. As a military figure, he was protagonist in the foreground of the history of Albania for the period 1918–1944. Friend and right-hand man of King Zog, he remained faithful from the beginning to the end to him and the Albanian Kingdom, 1928-1939. During WWII he was involved in military operations. Recruited by the Italians and sent to the first line of combat, he came into conflict with them, withdrawing the Albanian troops from the Greco-Italian War. He also opposed the German SS troops recruitment process in Albania. Bitter opponent of the communists, after failed attempts to engage some serious support from the British emissaries, he was forced to exile, first in Greece and later in Belgium as a political refugee. He spent the rest of his life in Belgium, where he died at age 80, on September 6, 1977.