page_title: Zog I of Albania
section_title: Albanian king
hierarchical_section_title: Zog I of Albania / Albanian king
caption_attribution_description: English: Zog I (born Ahmet Zogolli, later changed to Ahmet Zogu) (8 October 1895 – 9 April 1961) was King of Albania from 1928 to 1939. He was previously Prime Minister of Albania (1922 - 1924) and President of Albania (1925 - 1928).
context_page_description: Zog I, born Ahmet Muhtar Zogolli, taking the surname Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. He first served as the prime minister of Albania, then as president, and finally as the country's king.
context_section_description: On 1 September 1928, Albania was transformed into a kingdom, and President Zogu became Zog I, King of the Albanians (Mbreti i Shqiptarëve in Albanian). He took as his regnal name his surname rather than his forename since the Islamic name Ahmet might have had the effect of isolating him on the European stage. He also initially took the parallel name "Skanderbeg III" (Zogu claimed to be a successor of Skanderbeg through descent through Skanderbeg's sister; "Skanderbeg II" was taken to be Prince Wied, but this fell out of use).
  On the same day as he was declared king (he was never technically crowned), he was declared Field Marshal of the Royal Albanian Army. He proclaimed a constitutional monarchy similar to the contemporary regime in Italy, created a strong police force, and instituted the Zogist salute (flat hand over the heart with palm facing downwards). Zog hoarded gold coins and precious stones, which were used to back Albania's first paper currency.
  Zog's mother, Sadije, was declared Queen Mother of Albania, and Zog also gave his brother and sisters Royal status as Prince and Princesses Zogu. One of his sisters, Senije (c. 1897–1969), married Prince Shehzade Mehmed Abid Efendi of Turkey, a son of Sultan Abdul Hamid II.
  Zog's constitution forbade any Prince of the Royal House from serving as Prime Minister or a member of the Cabinet, and contained provisions for the potential extinction of the Royal Family. Ironically, in light of later events, the constitution also forbade the union of the Albanian throne with that of any other country. Under the Zogist constitution, the King of the Albanians, like the King of the Belgians, ascended the throne and exercised Royal powers only after taking an oath before Parliament; Zog himself swore an oath on the Bible and the Qur'an (the king being Muslim) in an attempt to unify the country. In 1929, King Zog abolished Islamic law in Albania, adopting in its place a civil code based on the Swiss one, as Atatürk's Turkey had done in the same decade.  The price for such modernization was high, though.  Although nominally a constitutional monarch, in practice Zog retained the dictatorial powers he had enjoyed as president.  Thus, in effect, Albania remained a military dictatorship.
  In 1938, Zog opened the borders of Albania to Jewish refugees fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany.
caption: Ahmet Zogu
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