Vasil Laçi was an Albanian

Albanians

Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 patriot and monarchist who attempted to kill Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy

King of Italy

King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

 and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci was Prime Minister of Albania in 1924 and during the Italian occupation from 1939 to 1941.-Biography:...

, Prime Minister of Albania after the occupation of Albania by fascist Italy

Albania under Italy

The Albanian Kingdom existed as a protectorate of the Kingdom of Italy. It was practically a union between Italy and Albania, officially led by Italy's King Victor Emmanuel III and its government: Albania was led by Italian governors, after being militarily occupied by Italy, from 1939 until 1943...

.

Youth

Vasil Laçi was born in the village of Piqeras in southern Albania near the city of Sarandë

Sarandë

Sarandë or Saranda is the capital of the District of Sarandë, Albania, and is one of the most important tourist attractions of the Albanian Riviera. It is situated on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea in the Mediterranean 2 nautical miles from the Greek island of Corfu. The city of Saranda has a...

 in 1922. He spent his childhood in Piqeras, where he studied in the local elementary school. In 1939 he moved to Tirana

Tirana

Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...

, capital of Albania, after being invited to work there. In Tirana he developed relations with patriotic groups, and helped several of their members escape from the Italian troops and police.

Assassination attempt against Victor Emmanuel III

Victor Emmanuel III decided to visit Albania on April 12, 1941 and he arrived one month later, after being reassured by the Italian fascist police of Tirana that all security measures had been taken. Laçi found out about Victor Emmanuel's visit to Albania fifteen days before his arrival, on May 2, 1941. Afterwards he managed to find a job at the Hotel International where Victor Emmanuel would stay, and borrowed a Beretta M1915 pistol from Pëllumb Koka, another Albanian patriot. On May 17, 1941 the 19-year-old Vasil Laçi, wearing Albanian national costume, attacked the car in which Victor Emmanuel and Shefqet Bej Vërlaci

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci

Shefqet Bej Vërlaci was Prime Minister of Albania in 1924 and during the Italian occupation from 1939 to 1941.-Biography:...

, Prime Minister of Albania were travelling accompanied by the ministers of the government. He fired four shots towards them while shouting "Long live Albania! Down with fascism", but failed to hit anyone.

Aftermath and legacy

Laçi was arrested immediately and executed by hanging ten days later. The Italian fascist government attributed his attack to economic issues he had with Shefqet Bej Vërlaci, in order to prevent possible uprisings of the Albanian people.

He was one of the first people to be awarded posthumously by the Albanian communist government with the award People's Hero of Albania

People's Hero of Albania

Hero of Albania, more properly Hero of the People is the highest title that can be bestowed on a citizen of Albania.-Creation:The title was created in 1945 and the Albanian parliament confirmed it by Law in 1954 and then reconfirmed by Law Nr.6133 on February 12, 1980...

. His assassination attempt was dramatized firstly as a book and later as a film in the 1980 movie entitled Bullets for the Imperator . Nowadays, a monument stands in Tirana to honour his actions.