Ibrahim Rugova Quotes

Ibrahim Rugova was born in Cerrcë, Kosovo. He was a Kosovo Albanians politician. He was the first President of the Republic of Kosova from 1992 to 2000 and again from 2002 to 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support, especially during the Kosovo War. Owing to his role in Kosovo's history, he has been dubbed "Father of the Nation" and "Gandhi of the Balkans". He awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, and posthumously declared a Hero of Kosovo. He studied literature at the University of Prishtina and the University of Paris. He graduated from the University of Pristina in 1971. He received his doctorate with a dissertation on Albanian literary criticism from the University of Prishtina in 1984.