blessed lazër shantoja (shkodër, july 7, 1891 - tirana, march 5, 1945) was an albanian blessed, publicist, poet, satirist, and translator into albanian from goethe, schiller dhe leopardi, as well as his country's first esperantist. he was one of the first catholic priests, arrested by the communist regime, and the first albanian priest that was shot by a firing squad. he was accepted by the catholic church as a martyr in 2016, part of the martyrs of albania.