Memorie.al / The glory of Hysen Kusi, nicknamed Dake, as the winner of the first Albanian championship with Tirana in the 1930s is well known, but what is not known is how the dictatorship ruined this champion by imprisoning him for 5 years, after which he was never the same again. Hysen was the brother-in-law of Qazim Mulleti, so the entire family was mercilessly struck by the new rulers. Neither the love of his fiancée, who waited for him and married him after his release from prison, nor the family he created could restore his normal life, leaving him, until the end of his days, a bearer of great suffering.
Who was Hysen (Dake) Kusi?
He was born into an old Tirana civic family on June 20, 1912. The Kusi family is among those clans that are at once intellectual, hardworking, and patriotic. Hysen was raised in a healthy family, where love for one another prevailed above all else. His father, Ismail efendi Kusi, was an economist in the Muslim community. While his mother, Qamile Mara, also came from a Tirana civic family.
The couple had 6 children, 4 sons: Ramazan Kusi, a military academic; Abdulla Kusi, executed by the communists in 1945, who had served as mayor of Petrela; Nazif Kusi, who died very young right after finishing his studies at a faculty in Milan; Hysen Kusi, not only an excellent athlete but also a mid-level economist who knew Italian and French well.
The two sisters were: one, Hajrie Kusi, who would very quickly marry Qazim Mulleti, the famous prefect of Tirana. The ordeal of her sufferings after 1944, through internments together with her son, Reshit, are chilling stories. While the other sister, Lutfija, would die as a young bride in the well-known Gjinali family. As can be seen, the misfortunes in Ismail Kusi’s family were not small. Terrible misfortunes that also weighed heavily on Hysen.
According to Hysen Kusi’s daughter, her father played professional football from the age of 17 until 1936, when, only 24 years old, he left sports and worked as a mid-level economist. In the book “Tirana Personalities” by the “Tirana” Association, on p. 53, we learn that Hysen completed his primary education in Tirana.
He then attended the famous “Zosimea” high school in Greece. He had a large social circle and left a good name everywhere. Hysen was very fond of football and played it from an early age. He grew up watching the matches of the Tirana team on the “Shallvare” field during the 1920s.
These were years that would leave an impression on his formation, and thus, only 17 years old, he would become part of the Tirana team. His talent caught the eye immediately, so no one hesitated to bring him into the squad, despite his very young age. Very early on, he received the nickname “Dake.”
We find the meaning in Hysen’s character. He was not tall, but courageous and energetic. He feared no duel on the field and was always first in training. So, although perhaps not large in body, he was great in character and spirit, strong as a spike (dake). He never tired in defense and midfield.
He stuck to the opponent like a postage stamp. He gave his soul and heart for the jersey, so fans were not surprised to see him sometimes in attack as well. Dake Kusi belongs to the golden galaxy of Tirana and Albanian football. He was among those who laid the first foundations of professional football in Albania.
Together with “Tirana”, in 1930, they won the first Albanian football championship. From the researcher and sports journalist, Besnik Dizdari, I learned that Hysen (Dake) Kusi is among the first (if not the first) Albanian player to be loaned with a paid sports contract from “Sport-Klub Tirana” to “Sport-Klub Teuta” in 1934.
At “Tirana”, Dake played alongside great names such as Selman Stërmasi, Irfan Gjinali, Adem Karapici, Rexhep Maçi, Shefqet Ndroqi, Isuf Dashi, etc. While in Durrës, he would form a very close friendship with the great Niko Dovana. Looking at the names of the Tirana team, it goes without saying that it was not for nothing that “Tirana” would win 6 championships in the 1930s. Dake Kusi would be the winner of four of these championships: in 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1936. He never forgot his beloved “Tirona” until the last day of his life.
Hysen’s life from first champion to the Maliq swamp
Although he was 10 years older than her, the Tirana girl, Ikbale Cullhaj, had followed Hysen when he played football at the “Shallvare” Field. She told her daughter that when she was 14 years old, she used to go with her cousins to watch football and there she saw Hysen for the first time.
The couple became engaged in 1942. At that time, tradition required that an engagement last at least two years. They did not get to enjoy each other, because 1944 came along with the upheavals that shook the couple. Hysen had never been involved in politics, but being the brother-in-law of Qazim Mulleti did not come without a price in communist Albania.
Even though he had not participated in any organization, even though he had simply been a mid-level economist at the Municipality, even though he had never adhered to any political party, even though life for him was only sports, he was nonetheless seen as an enemy. So, his brother Abdulla was executed, and likewise his sister, Hajrie Kusi, would end up together with her son, little Reshit Mulleti, in all the internment camps.
On November 17, 1944, the communists took power, and without waiting at all, directly on January 21, 1945, they arrested Hysen Kusi. For three months, they kept him in dungeons, with the most inhuman tortures, while he waited the day of the trial — a so-called trial. He insisted that he had done nothing against his people.
On April 28, 1945, the Military Court of Tirana sentenced him as a “war criminal” to 10 years in prison, forced labor, and confiscation of property. In 1946, Hysen would be sent to drain the Maliq swamp. Hysen closed himself off tightly due to the tortures and miserable conditions.
Leeches sucked his blood incessantly and the heavy labor without proper food left health consequences on him. After 5 years in a deteriorated condition, he got out of prison. Even though he was alienated, that Tirana girl waited for him, loved him, and embraced him. In 1950, they married, 8 years after the engagement announcement. The marriage brought two children into the world, Mira and Ismail, but the marriage itself was not healthy.
Hysen’s deteriorated physical and psychological condition, from the misfortunes and many sufferings, left consequences on his wife and children as well. He died alone at the age of 62 from cancer. A destroyed couple, a suffering family, children who grew up and lived in fear, completely innocent. / Memorie.al
