Ali Shefqet Shkupi

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Shefqet Shkupi, also known as Ali Shefqet Bey, was the first Chief of Supreme Staff of the Albanian Army bearing the functions of the Supreme Commander in the Albanian Government of Ismail Qemal Vlora.

Education Ali received his elementary education in Salonika, later studied at the Monastir Military High School, the Turkish Military Academy (Kara Harp Okulu), and finally Academy of General Staff in Istanbul, which he completed in 1905. At the end of the academy he was given the rank captain. Later, he served various positions in the Ottoman Third Army in Macedonia. He supported the Young Turks movement, being part of the military units which attacked Istanbul in 1908.

Ali Shkupi could not reach Vlora because of the blockage from the Greek Navy although his desire was to join the Albanian government. He managed to land near Fier (Seman delta) area from an Austro-Hungarian ship. He was immediately assigned with the organization of the Ministry of War which he succeeded. Ali Shkupi put in place all the experience he had gathered from the extended military education and military service in the Ottoman Army. On May 5, 1913, Vlora Government would approve the "Statute for the temporary organization of the Ministry of War", and the General Staff Office which he was in command of. The newly created Ministry of War would also have Back Lines Office, Personnel Office, and Medical Office. The statute was detailed and included all necessary structures and mechanisms of a modern army. and got sentenced to death, but due to protests from inside and outside Albania, he was sentenced to jail and released in 1938.

World War II and after Ali Shkupi was not active during World War II, although he was an opponent of the Italian invasion, as well as the German one. The Nazis would burn his house in Tirana. After the war, he resettled in Shkodër. He died on 3 December 1953 and was buried in Shkoder. He was reburied in Tirana in the '80s. In 1992, Ali Shefqet Shkupi was decorated for "Patriotic Activity of First Class" by the Albanian government.