Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj

Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj, born in Rome, Italy, is the second daughter of Kapidan Ndue Gjon Marku. She completed her education in New York City and traveled extensively with her husband, Vincent, a retired U.S. Navy officer. Bianca successfully ran an Antiques Gallery in Virginia Beach from 1995 until 2012, when she and Vincent relocated to Shkodra, Albania, to live in her family home and be near her uncle Dede, aunt Bardha, and cousin Kristina.

Four months after arriving in Albania, Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj lost her beloved aunt Bardha on March 19, 2013, followed by her uncle Dede on January 24, 2015 and her cousine Kristina on August 8, 2022. Despite these losses and ongoing challenges with property restitution, Bianca remains committed to staying in Albania to seek justice.

Her resolve is driven by a deep love for her family’s history, instilled by her father, Ndue. Living in the family home in Shkodra and connecting with her ancestral land in Mirdita, Bianca has gained profound respect for the hardships endured by her ancestors and the relatives who suffered under communism for 45 years.

With her husband and immediate family nearby and in the United States, she knows she has the support she needs to continue all the legal battles she has been faced with for the last 13 years.

Bianca is the family historian. She has been instrumental in creating a social media presence on for the family through this website, as well as continuously publicizing various important historical facts and documents.

Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj is meticulously cataloging a collection of documents related to the Bloku Kombëtar Indipendent, a political party founded in Rome in 1946 by her grandfather, Kapidan Gjon Marka Gjoni, her father, Kapidan Ndue Gjon Marku, and other prominent figures. To preserve this legacy, she published an encyclopedic book in August 2025, L’Albanie Libre Organ of the National Independent Bloc, compiling issues of L’Albanie Libre, the party’s newspaper, spanning 1946 to 1968. This work stands as a powerful testament to the Albanian nationalist fighters’ struggle against communism.

Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj authored Tower of Resistance: Markagjoni Family – An Albanian Dynasty in Albanian, English, and Italian, chronicling her family’s resilience during Albania’s communist regime from 1944 to 1991. The book weaves together historical facts, personal recollections, photographs, and original documents to narrate stories of survival, death, capture, imprisonment, and daring escapes, illustrating the communists’ attempts to crush the Markagjoni family’s spirit.

Along with Mr.sc. Nue Oroshi, scholar and author, a promotion was held in Shkodra on April 4, 2024 and in Rreshen, Mirdita on 5 April, 2024 for two books “Kulla e Rezistencës Familja Markagjoni një Dinasti Shqptarë“ and “Kapidan Mark Gjon Marku, Komandant i Përgjithshëm i Fuqive t’Armatosuna Kombtare” written by a group of authors including Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj.

To view other books written by Bianca Maria Gjomarkaj follow this link.

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