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Concept
Ibrahim Rugova
Summary
Ibrahim Rugova (ibɾahim ɾugova; 2 December 1944 – 21 January 2006) was a Kosovo Albanian political leader, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President of Kosovo from 2002 until his death in 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support, especially during the Kosovo War.
He founded the political party Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in 1989. The LDK, which had the support of 90% of the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo, advocated for Kosovo's independence by peaceful means. The party established a shadow government that provided basic government and social services to the Kosovo Albanian population, including education and health care, in effect creating a parallel state. In May 1992, Rugova was elected President of this parallel state. In March 2002, with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo administering the province, he was elected President of Kosovo. He held this position until his death in January 2006, and was posthumously declared a Hero of Kosovo. He is sometimes referred to as Ati Kombit ("Father of the Nation") in Kosovo.
Ibrahim Rugova was born on 2 December 1944 to a family that is a branch of the Kelmendi Albanian clan. At this time, the major part of Kosovo was unified with Albania (controlled by Benito Mussolini's Italy since 1941, and later by the Germans from 1943). Yugoslav control was re-established towards the end of November 1944 when the area was liberated by the Bulgarian Army and Yugoslav partisans who defeated Albanian collaborators. His father Ukë Rugova and his paternal grandfather Rrustë Rugova were summarily executed in January 1945 by Yugoslav communists. Rugova finished primary school in Istok and high school in Peja, graduating in 1967.
He strongly emphasized the heritage of ancient Dardania, an independent kingdom and later-turned Roman province that included modern-day Kosovo, to strengthen the country's identity and to promote his policy of closer relations with the West.
Official source
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