Mujo Ulqinaku
{{Short description|Albanian sergeant (1896-1939)}}{{Infobox military person
| name = Mujo Ulqinaku
| image = Mujo Ulqinaku (portret).jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = 1896
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1939|4|7|1896}}
| placeofburial_label =
| placeofburial =
| birth_place = Ulcinj, Principality of Montenegro
| death_place = Durrës, Kingdom of Albania
| placeofburial_coordinates =
| nickname =
| birth_name = Muhamet Cakuli
| allegiance ={{flag|Kingdom of Albania}}
|branch = {{army|Kingdom of Albania}}
{{navy|Kingdom of Albania}}
| serviceyears =
| rank =
| servicenumber =
| unit =
| commands =
| battles = Italian Invasion of Albania
- Battle of Durrës (1939){{KIA}}
| battles_label =
| awards = 17px Hero of the People
National Flag Order
| relations =
| laterwork =
}}
Mujo Ulqinaku (born Muhamet Cakuli; 1896 – 7 April 1939) was an Albanian sergeant of the Royal Albanian Navy, known for his resistance on 7 April 1939 to the Italian forces during the Italian invasion of Albania. He was given the People's Hero of Albania award posthumously.
Life
Mujo Ulqinaku was born in 1896 in Ulcinj, in the Principality of Montenegro, now modern Montenegro, to a family of merchant sailors. In his teens he joined the commercial fleet in Shkodër and Lezhë. Later he served in the Albanian navy, based in Durrës, with the rank of sergeant, commanding the patrol boat Tiranë. He was one of the few officers of the Royal Albanian Navy who tried to stop the Italian invasion of Albania. Armed only with a machine gun, he was placed in the center of the defense line where he killed and wounded dozens of Italian soldiers.{{cite news|url=http://www.kohajone.com/html/artikull_40441.html|title=Kur mbreti italian Viktor Emanueli, vizitonte Gjirokastren|last=Kore|first=Blerim|date=7 April 2009|work=Koha Jone|publisher=Koha Jone|language=sq|access-date=2 September 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101008171933/http://kohajone.com/html/artikull_40441.html|archive-date=8 October 2010}} He was killed by an artillery shell from an Italian torpedo boat in the last hour of the battle.{{cite book|last=Zeqo|first=Mojkom|title=Mujo Ulqinaku|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6S4AAAAIAAJ&q=mujo+ulqinaku|year=1980|publisher=8 Nëntori Pub. House|location=Tirana, Albania}}
Legacy
Ulqinaku is memorialized by a monument in front of Durrës Castle. A grammar school in Durrës and streets in Tirana and Pristina bear his name. A documentary on his life and actions, "{{lang|sq|Lufton Mujo Ulqinaku}}" ({{langx|en|Mujo Ulqinaku fights on}}), was released in 1979 by Kinostudio Shqipëria e Re.{{imdb title|id=0351267}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{People's Hero of Albania}}
{{Ulcinj}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulqinaku, Mujo}}
Category:20th-century Albanian military personnel