Doctor Bamir Topi, President of the Republic of Albania

Professor Doctor Bamir Topi was born in Tirana on April 24, 1957 in a native Tirana family of intellectual and civil traditions. He is married and has two daughters. His parents paid particular attention to the education of their three sons and this is demonstrated by the professional and social success they have achieved. The family of Prof. Dr. Topi has given a great contribution to the development of Tirana ever since its foundation up to the present times. After graduating from the Agricultural University of Tirana, from the Veterinary Medicine Faculty with high grades, Prof. Dr. Bamir Topi started work in Petrela where he was distinguished for the dedication and abilities in the fields of Toxicology and Pharmacology. For these reasons, in 1984 he was appointed a Scientific Researcher at the Institute of Veterinary Scientific Researches until 1995. During the period 1987-1990 he attended post-graduate studies in Italy in the field of Molecular Biology and at the conclusion of those studies, he received the title Doctor of Sciences. After his return from Italy, Prof. Dr. Topi was appointed Director of the Food Safety and Veterinary Institute, a position held until the end of 1995. During the activity in this Institute as the Director and Scientific Researcher, Prof. Dr. Topi gave a western world physiognomy to this important institution of the country. Alongside his work as Scientific Researcher, Prof. Dr. Topi has carried out a dense academic activity in preparing the educational curricula of the Toxicology and Pharmacology subjects for the students and postgraduates of the Veterinary Medicine Faculty while at the same time he was also a Lecturer of these subjects for about a decade. Due to this activity and to numerous scientific and pedagogical publications, Mr. Topi earned the title of Professor in 1995. Alongside the scientific and pedagogical activity, Prof. Dr. Topi has carried out an intense political activity as well which originates at the beginning of the democratic movement in Albania in 1990. He was first elected as a parliamentarian of the Assembly of Albania in 1996 and was appointed Minister of Agriculture and Food where he served until 1997 when the Democratic Party became the opposition. Prof. Dr. Topi has been elected thrice as parliamentarian of the Assembly of Albania, twice as Deputy Chairman of the Democratic Party and Head of the DP Parliamentary Group. Throughout all his political and public activity Prof. Dr. Topi has been distinguished and widely hailed as a politician of a moderated profile, as very active in resolving the crisis between the ruling majority and opposition and as a protagonist of political agreements and various parliamentary initiatives. Prof. Dr. Topi has incessantly been present in the Albanian and foreign mass media with his constant and coherent positions regarding the different domestic realities. Prof. Dr. Topi was elected President of the Republic of Albania on July 20, 2007.

Alfred Moisiu, Former President of Albania