Ibrahim Rugova; (2 December, 1944-1921 January 2006) was the first partially recognized President of the Republic of Kosovo, who served from 1992 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2006, and a prominent politician, Albanian scholar and writer Leader Kosovo. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, defending peaceful resistance to Yugoslav domination and lobbying for support from the United States and Europe, especially during the Kosovo war. Due to its role in the history of Kosovo, Rugova was dubbed the “Father of the Nation” and “Gandhi of the Balkans,” awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought and Hero posthumously declared in Kosovo.

Ibrahim Rugova was born on 2 December 1944 to a family that is a branch of the Albanian clan Kelmendi. At that time, most of Kosovo was unified with Albania (controlled by Benito Mussolini Italy since 1941, and later by the Germans since 1943). The Yugoslav control is re-established in late November, when the area was liberated by the Bulgarian army and supporters who defeated the Albanian collaborators. Ukë his father and paternal grandfather Rugova Rugova Rrustë were summarily executed in January 1945 by the Yugoslav Communists. Rugova graduated from primary school at Istok High School and from Pec, graduated in 1967.

He highlighted the legacy of the former Dardania, the independent kingdom province and later the Roman Empire which included present-day Kosovo to strengthen the country’s identity and promote its policy of closer relations with the West. He studied literature at the University of Prishtina and the University of Paris and obtained a doctorate with a thesis on Albanian literary criticism. As a student, he participated in a civil rights movement for the Albanians, although formally joined the Communist League of Yugoslavia to ensure career advancement. Thus, he worked as editor of prestigious literary and scientific publications and researcher at the Institute of Albanian Studies; In 1988, he was elected president of the Writers’ Union of Kosovo.

He moved to the newly created University of Pristina, where he was a student at the Faculty of Philosophy Department of Albanian Studies and participated in demonstrations in Kosovo, 1968. He graduated in 1971 and re-enrolled as a student of Research focusing on literary theory. During his studies, he spent two years (1976-1977) at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes at the University of Paris, where he studied with Roland Barthes. He obtained his doctorate in 1984 after having submitted his thesis, address and premises of the Albanian literary critic, 1504-1983.

Rugova was an active journalist in the 1970s, the edition of the student newspaper Bota e Re (“New World”) and the magazine Dituria (“Knowledge”). He also worked at the Institute of Albanian Studies in Pristina where he became the editor of his newspaper, Gjurmime albanologjike (“Albanian Research”). He officially joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia during this period; As in many other communist countries, party members were essential for all those who want to advance their careers. Rugova managed to make a name for himself by publishing a series of books on literary theory, criticism and history, as well as his own poetry. The production earned him recognition as an eminent member of the Albanian intelligentsia of Kosovo and in 1988 was elected president of the Kosovo Writers’ Union (KWU).