Qazim Dervishi - Life

Life

Dervishi was born in Shkodër, on June 10, 1908. Since his childhood he had a passion for all kinds of sports and he practiced football and basketball during his teenage years. In 1924 he entered the "Harry Fultz" Technical School in Tirana. The motto of the school at that time was "If we rest we rust" (Albanian: "Kush rri, ndryshket"). After finishing school he started teaching basketball and he started training a team in Shkodër. He is known as the "man who brought basketball from Technical School" because of the popularity he gave the sport in his native city. In 1930 he was named headmaster of the "Malet Tona" campus in Shkodër. In 1939 he was transferred to the city of Pogradec to work as a teacher but came back to Shkodër in 1942. Just three years after, he was named president of the sportive society KS Vllaznia. In the years 1946-1947 he transferred to Gjirokastër where he taught the local youths the sport of basketball for the first time. During 1947 he worked in the Peqin-Kavaje railway as an instructor on physical education. That is where he was arrested by the communist government because of his sympathy to ex-King of Albanians Ahmet Zogu. This was influenced from the fact that he had studied in the "Harry Fultz" Technical School where most of the dissidents of the communist regime had studied. A 22-month investigation was made from the "Sigurimi" that "found enough proofs" to declare him guilty of propaganda against the communist regime. He was punished with a sentence of 18 years but he served only until 1954 because of very bad health conditions. He was paralyzed and he managed to get a paralysis financial assistance. In 1993 he was given the title "The Nation's Teacher" for his contribution in sports. In 2009 the Council of the Municipality of Shkoder accorded to him the title "Honorary Citizen". He died in January 1994 in the age of 86 years old, honored from the Albanian people.

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