Zog I of Albania Zog I , King of the Albanians ( , ; 8 October 18959 April 1961 ) , born Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli , taking the surname Zogu from 1922 , was the leader of Albania from 1925 to 1939 , first as President ( 1925 – 1928 ) and then as King ( 1928 – 1939 ) . Earlier he served as Prime Minister of Albania ( 1922 – 1924 ) . Background and early political career . Zog was born Ahmet Muhtar Bej Zogolli in Burgajet Castle , near Burrel in the Ottoman Empire , second son to Xhemal Pasha Zogolli , and first son by his second wife Sadijé Toptani in 1895 . His family was a bey lik family of landowner s , with feudal authority over the region of Mati . His mother ' s Toptani family claimed to be descended from the sister of Albania ' s greatest national hero , the 15th - century general Skanderbeg . He was educated at Galatasaray High School ( Lycée Impérial de Galatasaray ) in Constantinople , then the seat of the decaying Ottoman Empire , which controlled Albania . Upon his father ' s death in about 1908 , Zogolli became governor of Mat , being appointed ahead of his elder brother , Xhelal Bey Zogolli . In 1912 , he signed the Albanian Declaration of Independence as the representative of the Mat District . As a young man during the First World War , Zogolli volunteered on the side of Austria - Hungary . He was detained at Vienna in 1917 and 1918 and in Rome in 1918 and 1919 before returning to Albania in 1919 . During his time in Vienna , he grew to enjoy a Western European lifestyle . Upon his return , Zogolli became involved in the political life of the fledgling Albanian government that had been created in the wake of the First World War . His political supporters included many southern feudal landowners ( called bey s , Turkish for " province chieftain " , the social group to which he belonged ) and noble families in the north , along with merchants , industrialists , and intellectuals . During the early 1920s , Zogolli served as Governor of Shkodër ( 1920 – 1921 ) , Minister of the Interior ( March – November 1920 , 1921 – 1924 ) , and chief of the Albanian military ( 1921 – 1922 ) . His primary rivals were Luigj Gurakuqi and Fan S . Noli . In 1922 , Zogolli formally changed his surname from Zogolli to Zogu , which sounds more Albanian . In 1923 , he was shot and wounded in Parliament . A crisis arose in 1924 after the assassination of one of Zogu ' s industrialist opponents , Avni Rustemi ; in the aftermath , a leftist revolt forced Zogu , along with 600 of his allies , into exile in June 1924 . He returned to Albania with the backing of Yugoslav forces and Yugoslavia - based White Russian troops under General Wrangel and became Prime Minister . President of Albania . Zogu was officially elected as the first President of Albania by the Constituent Assembly on 21 January 1925 , taking office on 1 February for a seven - year term . Zogu ' s government followed the European model , though large parts of Albania still maintained a social structure unchanged from the days of Ottoman rule , and most villages were serf plantations run by the Beys . On 28 June 1925 , Zogu ceded Sveti Naum to Yugoslavia as a gesture of recognition to the Yugoslav aid to him . Zogu enacted several major reforms . His principal ally during this period was Italy , which lent his government funds in exchange for a greater role in Albania ' s fiscal policy . During Zogu ' s presidency , serfdom was gradually eliminated . For the first time since the death of Skanderbeg , Albania began to emerge as a nation , rather than a feudal patchwork of local Beyliks . His administration was marred by disputes with Kosovar leaders , primarily Hasan Prishtina and Bajram Curri . On the debit side , however , Zogu ' s Albania was a police state . He all but eliminated civil liberties , muzzled the press and murdered political opponents . Under the constitution , Zogu was vested with sweeping executive and legislative powers , including the right to appoint one - third of the upper house . For all intents and purposes , he held all governing power in the nation . Albanian King . On 1 September 1928 , Albania was transformed into a kingdom , and President Zogu became Zog I , " King of the Albanians " ( " Mbret 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 Gjon Kastrioti II , Skanderbeg ' s son , exiled to Italy ) , but this fell out of use . On the same day as he was 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 , Princess Zogu ( 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 Ataturk ' 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 . Life as King . Although born as an aristocrat and hereditary Bey , King Zog was somewhat ignored by other monarchs in Europe because he had no links to the well - known European royal families . Nonetheless , he did have strong connections with Muslim royal families in the Arab World , particularly Egypt , whose ruling dynasty had Albanian origins . As King , he was honoured by the governments of Italy , Luxembourg , Egypt , Yugoslavia , France , Romania , Greece , Belgium , Bulgaria , Hungary , Poland , Czechoslovakia , and Austria . Zog was a heavy smoker . He had been engaged to the daughter of Shefqet Bey Verlaci before he became king . Soon after his coronation , however , he broke off the engagement . According to traditional customs of blood vengeance prevalent in Albania at the time , Verlaci had the right to kill Zog . The king frequently surrounded himself with a personal guard and avoided public appearances . He also feared that he might be poisoned , so the Mother of the King assumed supervision of the Royal Kitchen . During his reign he reputedly survived more than 55 assassination attempts . One of these occurred on 21 February 1931 , while visiting the Vienna State Opera house for a performance of " Pagliacci " . The attackers struck whilst Zog was getting into his car , and he survived by firing back with a pistol that he always carried . In April 1938 Zog married Countess Geraldine Apponyi de Nagy - Apponyi , a Roman Catholic aristocrat who was half - Hungarian and half - American . The ceremony was broadcast throughout Tirana via Radio Tirana that was officially launched by the monarchs five months later . Their only child , HRH Crown Prince Leka , was born in Albania on 5 April 1939 . Relations with Italy . The fascist government of Benito Mussolini ' s Italy had supported Zog since early in his presidency ; that support had led to increased Italian influence in Albanian affairs . The Italians compelled Zog to refuse to renew the First Treaty of Tirana ( 1926 ) , although Zog still retained British officers in the Gendarmerie as a counterbalance against the Italians , who had pressured Zog to remove them . During the worldwide depression of the early 1930s Zog ' s government became almost completely dependent on Mussolini , to the point that the Albanian national bank had its seat in Rome . Grain had to be imported , many Albanians emigrated , and Italians were allowed to settle in Albania . In 1932 and 1933 , Albania was unable to pay the interest on its loans from the Society for the Economic Development of Albania , and the Italians used this as a pretext for further dominance . They demanded that Tirana put Italians in charge of the Gendarmerie , join Italy in a customs union , and grant the Italian Kingdom control of Albania ' s sugar , telegraph , and electrical monopolies . Finally , Italy called for the Albanian government to establish teaching of the Italian language in all Albanian schools , a demand that was swiftly refused by Zog . In defiance of Italian demands , he ordered the national budget to be slashed by 30 percent , dismissed all Italian military advisers , and nationalized Italian - run Roman Catholic schools in the north of Albania to decrease Italian influence on the population of Albania . In 1934 , he tried without success to build ties with France , Germany , and the Balkan states , and Albania drifted back into the Italian orbit . Two days after the birth of Zog ' s son and heir apparent , on 7 April 1939 ( Good Friday ) , Mussolini ' s Italy invaded , facing no significant resistance . The Albanian army was ill - equipped to resist , as it was almost entirely dominated by Italian advisors and officers and was no match for the Italian Army . The Italians were , however , resisted by small elements in the gendarmerie and general population . The Royal Family , realising that their lives were in danger , fled into exile , taking with them a considerable amount of gold from the National Bank of Tirana and Durrës . Since the Italian invasion was not unexpected , the gathering of gold had started in advance . " Oh God , it was so short " were King Zog ' s last words to Geraldine on Albanian soil . Count Ciano , the Italian Foreign Minister , arrived the following day ; on searching the Palace in Tirana , he found the labour room in the Queen ' s suite ; seeing a pile of linen on the floor , stained by the afterbirth , he kicked it across the room . " The cub has escaped ! " he said . Mussolini declared Albania a protectorate under Italy ' s King Victor Emmanuel III . While some Albanians continued to resist , " a large part of the population . . . welcomed the Italians with cheers " , according to one contemporary account . Former heir presumptive . Prior to the birth of Prince Leka , the position of Heir Presumptive was held by Prince of Kosova ( Kosovo ) Tati Esad Murad Kryziu , born 24 December 1923 in Tirana , who was the son of the King ' s sister , Princess Nafije . He became honorary General of the Royal Albanian Army in 1928 , at age five . He was made Heir Presumptive with the style of His Highness and title of " Prince of Kosova " ( " Princ i Kosovës " ) in 1931 . After the Royal House ' s exile , he moved to France , where he died in August 1993 , aged 69 . Life in exile . The royal family settled in England , first at The Ritz in London , followed by a brief stay at ' Forest Ridge , ' a house in the South Ascot area of Sunninghill in Berkshire , in 1941 ( near where Zog ' s nieces had been at school in Ascot ) . In 1941 they moved to Parmoor House , Parmoor , near Frieth in Buckinghamshire with some staff of the court living in locations around Lane End . In 1946 , King Zog and most of his family left England and went to live in Egypt at the behest of King Farouk , who was overthrown in 1952 . The family left for France in 1955 . In 1951 , Zog bought the Knollwood estate in Muttontown , New York . The sixty - room estate was never occupied and Zog sold the estate in 1955 . He made his final home in France , where he died at the Hôpital Foch , Suresnes , Hauts - de - Seine on 9 April 1961 , aged 65 , after being seriously ill for some time . He was survived by his wife and son , and is buried at the Cimetière de Thiais , near Paris . On his death , his son Leka was pronounced H . M . King Leka of the Albanians by the exiled Albanian community . His widow , Queen Geraldine , died of natural causes in 2002 at the age of 87 in a military hospital in Tirana , Albania . Albania ' s communist rulers abolished the monarchy in 1946 , but , even in exile , the royal family insisted that Leka Zogu was Albania ' s legitimate ruler until his death on 30 November 2011 . Political legacy . During World War II , there were three resistance groups operating in Albania : the nationalists , the royalists and the communists . Some of the Albanian establishment opted for collaboration . The communist partisans refused to co - operate with the other resistance groups and took control of the country . They were able to defeat the last Nazi remnants and take over the country in November 1944 . Zog attempted to reclaim his throne after the war . However , the new Communist - dominated government barred Zog from returning soon after it took power , and formally deposed him in 1946 . Sponsored by the British and Americans , some forces loyal to Zog attempted to mount invasions and incursions , but most were ambushed due to intelligence sent to the Soviet Union by spy Kim Philby . A referendum in 1997 — seven years after the end of Communist rule — proposed to restore the monarchy in the person of Zog ' s son Leka Zogu who , since 1961 , has been styled " Leka I , King of the Albanians " . The official but disputed results stated that about two - thirds of voters favoured a continued republican government . Leka , believing the result to be fraudulent , attempted an armed uprising : he was unsuccessful and was forced into exile , although he later returned and lived in Tirana until his death on 30 November 2011 . A main street in Tirana was later renamed " Boulevard Zog I " by the Albanian government . Although Zog did much to modernize his country , he also imbued it with a tradition of autocratic rule that lasted until 1990 . Repatriation to Albania . In October 2012 , the government of Albania decided to bring back the remains of the former king from France , where he died in 1961 . Zog ' s body was exhumed from the Thiais Cemetery , Paris on 15 November 2012 . A guard of honour was provided by the French President , in the form of French Legionnaires in ceremonial dress . Zog ' s remains were returned in a state ceremony on 17 November 2012 , coinciding with celebrations for Albania ' s 100th independence anniversary . His body now lies in the reconstructed royal mausoleum in Tirana . The interment was attended by the government of Albania , including the President and Prime Minister , and senior figures from European royal families , including those of Romania , Montenegro , Russia and Albania . Honours and awards . National honours in Albania National honours