On January 24th, 1919, in Italy died the prominent patriot of our nation, Ismail Qemali, Hero of the Nation. During the whole his life he has worked and tried for the freedom and independence of the homeland. He was among the prominent patriots who formulated 12 demands to the Turkish government for the provision of administrative and territorial autonomy for all Albanian lands. Ismail Qemali had a prominent role in the declaration of Independence. On the eve of this great historical event, he traveled across Europe, taking contacts with statesmen, foreign diplomats and Albanian colonies of exile for preliminary preparations of the necessary conditions and then, together with the representatives of the different regions of the country, came to Vlora, where he headed the National Assembly, which declared the independence of Albania.