Agim Ramadani (3 May 1963 – 11 April 1999) also known with nickname Katana, was an Albanian commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), an ethnic Albanian paramilitary organization that sought the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. He was killed in action during the Battle of Košare. After his death, he was given the decoration Hero of Kosovo.
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Agim Ramadani | |
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Monument of Agim Ramadani in the Elementary School in Zhegra, Kosovo | |
Born | 3 May 1963 Zheger, Gjilan, SFR Yugoslavia (now Republic of Kosovo) |
Died | 11 April 1999 Koshare, Djakovica, FR Yugoslavia (now Republic of Kosovo) |
Rank | Military Commander |
Unit | 138th Brigade |
Commands held | ![]() |
Battles/wars | Kosovo War
|
Awards | Hero of Kosovo (posthumously)[1] |
Agim Ramadani was born on 3 May 1963 in the village of Žegra in the municipality of Gnjilane in AP Kosovo. He studied at the higher technical school in Gnjilane in 1980, and the Military Academy for communications in Zagreb, SR Croatia. Poetry and painting were his passions during high school. His poetry was published in literary magazines, whereas painting exhibitions were organized in Croatia, where he worked as a JNA officer, and in Switzerland, where lived after the Croatian War broke out. In 1998 Ramadani accepted honorary membership at the European Academy of Arts.
In 1998, Ramadani left Switzerland, where his wife and three children (two sons and a daughter[2]) lived, and joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).[3] He died at the Battle of Košare.
Agim is regarded an Albanian hero.[4] A main street in Pristina is named after him.[5]
a. | ^ Albanian spelling: Agim Ramadani, Serbian Cyrillic: Агим Рамадани. |
b. | ^ The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo is formally recognised as an independent state by 100 UN member states (with another 13 states recognising it at some point but then withdrawing their recognition) and 93 states not recognizing it, while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. |