Liri Berisha

Liri Berisha (née Ramaj; born 5 July 1949) is an Albanian pediatrician, former first lady of Albania and the president of the Albanian Children Foundation, and also a UNICEF ambassador.

Liri Berisha
Berisha in 2009
Spouse of the Prime Minister of Albania
In role 8 September 2005 – 11 September 2013
Prime Minister	Sali Berisha
Preceded by	Xhoana Nano
Succeeded by	Linda Rama
First Lady of Albania
In role 9 April 1992 – 24 July 1997
President	Sali Berisha
Preceded by	Semiramis Xhuvani (1986)
Succeeded by	Lidra Meidani
Personal details
Born	Slobodanka Ramaj (1948-07-05) 5 July 1948 (age 77) Tirana, Albania
Nationality	Albania
Spouse	Sali Berisha ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	2
Parents	Rexhep Ramaj Balidemaj Milica Bulatović
Alma mater	University of Tirana (MD)
Occupation	Pediatrician

Sali and Liri Berisha with Barack and Michelle Obama, September 2009

She is married to Sali Berisha, the former President and Prime Minister of Albania, with whom she has two children, daughter Argita and son Shkëlzen.

Early life and career

Liri Berisha was born Lirie Ramaj. She is the daughter of Rexhep Ramaj Balidemaj, an ethnic Albanian from Martinovići near Plav, at the time part of Yugoslavia (now Montenegro), and Milica Bulatović, a Montenegrin woman. After the Yugoslav–Albanian split in 1948, her name was changed by the government to Liri Ramaj^[1]

In 2008, Berisha founded the Mother Teresa Cultural Foundation.^[2] In 2009, the Women's Information Network named Berisha "Woman of the Year".^[3]

Berisha joined Autism Speaks in 2011 in celebrating the opening of a new centre for autistic children in Albania, calling the centre a way to improve the lives of children with autism there.^[4]