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Revision as of 14:11, 13 January 2025 by FamiljaBalaProngji (talk | contribs) (→History)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Barjam Ligu (Prongji, 1880-1943) was a member of the Insurgent Movement for the freedom of Albania as part of Çerçiz Topulli's army. He is widely known as the assassin of Bimbash Gisinja (Lieutenant Colonel of the Ottoman Gendarmerie Garrison in the city of Gjirokastra at that time).
Barjam Ligu was born in 1880 in the village of Prongji in the district of Gjirokastra. He came from a well-known patriotic family of the area. From a young age he becomes a member of Çerçiz Topulli squad of freedom fighters, although the captain did not want to accept him, because he was very young and seriously ill with asthma at the time, the mind and spiritual leader of the squad, Mihal Grameno, insisted that Barjam Ligu be accepted into the squad. From that day on, a friendship, a close brotherhood, was born between Mihal and Barjam. Barjam Ligu was also a member of the Albanian Patriotic League, fighting in every area of South Albania. In 1913-1914, he fought against Greek soldiers who wanted to annex the south of Albania. In the year 1914, about 200 Greek soldiers came as invaders to Prongji and the first thing they did was to arrest Barjam Ligu. While imprisoning and torturing him, the Greeks broke several of his ribs and cut off one of his ears, as they accused him of murdering the Dhespot of Korça named Foti. Dhespot Foti was killed by order of the Committee of the Free Albania, because he had given the order to kill Papa Kristo Negovani and his brother Theothos. This accusation was made because Barjam Ligu was known for bravery and was one of the assassins of the Ottoman Bimbash in 1908 in Gjirokastër(then Ergjëria). After breaking his ribs and cutting off his ear in order to humiliate him, the people of the village Prongji collected gold coins and sent them to the Greek command through a local representative for his release. After receiving the amount in gold, the Greek commander gave the order for the crippled Barjam to be released. Barjam never covered the severed ear, even though the Greeks left it as a sign of shame, he was instead proud of it as it showed the indomitable resistance to freedom of a mammoth spirit even in the face of the most inhumane tortures. As a member of the Çerçiz Topulli squad, Bajram Ligu fought everywhere alongside Çerçiz. They fought together in July 1908 in Dibër, Manastir, Tetovo, Skopje and even Thessaloniki in the movement known in history as the Young Turk Revolution. In the war of Vlora in 1920, we find Barjam Ligu at the head of the Prongjotas detachment and he was attached to Selam Musa's detachment fighting against the Italians. It must be said that Barjam Ligu knew Selam Musa earlier, because he was also a member of the Çerçiz Topulli guerrillas, where they had fought alongside each other for several years in the struggle for national freedom. Barjam Ligu also fought in 1939 against the occupation of Albania by fascist Italy. During this war he was seriously wounded and the wound did not heal completely turning into cancer over the years and he died in 1943, away from his family in the region of Delivinë as WW2 was on the peak.