Mid'hat Bey Frashëri
Encyclopedia
Mit’hat Frashëri was an Albanian
diplomat, writer and politician. The son of Abdyl Frashëri
, one of the most important activists of the Albanian National Awakening in 1908 he participated in the Congress of Monastir and in 1942 became the president of Balli Kombëtar
(National Front). He is considered as one of the fathers of Albanian Nationalism
.
and nephew of the poets and nationalists Naim Frashëri
and Sami Frashëri. Born in Janina (present day Ioannina
) in 1883 and was raised in Istanbul
. In Istanbul, his family organised the Albanian nationalist movement. Giving up his studies of pharmacology
, he worked for the Ottoman
administration in the vilayet of Salonika from a period from 1905 to 1910. Using the pen name Lumo Skendo, he began publishing the weekly newspaper “Lirija” in Salonika, which lasted until 1910. He participated in the Congress of Monastir in 1908, and in January of the next year, he began editing a monthly magazine entitled “Diturija”, a magazine based on the cultural, literary and scholarly interest of Albania.
. Mit'hat Frashëri became vice-chairman of the commission. Mit'hat Frashëri was also elected chairman of the congress and Parashqevi Qiriazi
chairwoman of the commission of the alphabet, which was responsible for the organization of the various alphabet proposals.
and in the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire
when Albania was on the verge of being carved up by its Balkan neighbours. Mit’hat Frashëri was one of the eighty-three leaders meeting in Vlorë in November 1912. He was one of the signers of the declaration of independence and became the Minister of Public Services in the Provisional Government of Albania
. He later became the Albanian consul general in Belgrade
and postmaster general. At the beginning of World War I
, Met'hat was interned in Romania
for a time, but after he was release, he returned to publishing. Mid’hat resided in Lausanne
for a time with his cousin Mehdi Frashëri, where he was author of a number of newspaper articles and essays. On 25 November 1920, he was appointed chairman of the Albanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference
, where he remained until 1922. In Paris, he continued his journalistic activities in the French press to publicize Albania’s position in the postwar restructuring of Europe. He subsequently held other ministerial posts and was Albanian ambassador to Greece and to the United States from 1922 to 1926.
regime in 1925, Mid’hat left public life and opened a bookstore in Tirana
. He himself possessed an exceptionally large private library of some 20,000 volumes, the largest collection in the country at the time. With the rise of Germany
and World War II
looking inevitable, Mit'hat began forming the National Front (Balli Kombëtar) to use in the war to create Greater Albania
.
His cousin, Mehdi Frashëri, served as Albanian Prime Minister under a German
-backed Albanian Government.
at that time, was confiscated by the new regime. The library included significant albanological works inherited from Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás
.
In regards to Enver Hoxha
's Albanian Communists:
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
diplomat, writer and politician. The son of Abdyl Frashëri
Abdyl Frashëri
Abdyl Frashëri People's Hero of Albania was an Albanian diplomat, politician, writer, and a first political ideologue of the Albanian National Awakening through the League of Prizren...
, one of the most important activists of the Albanian National Awakening in 1908 he participated in the Congress of Monastir and in 1942 became the president of Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar
Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...
(National Front). He is considered as one of the fathers of Albanian Nationalism
Albanian nationalism
Albanian nationalism is a general grouping of nationalist ideas and concepts among ethnic Albanians that were first formed in the beginning of 19th century in what was called the Albanian National Awakening...
.
Early life
Mid’hat bey Frashëri was the son of Albanian politician and nationalist Abdyl FrashëriAbdyl Frashëri
Abdyl Frashëri People's Hero of Albania was an Albanian diplomat, politician, writer, and a first political ideologue of the Albanian National Awakening through the League of Prizren...
and nephew of the poets and nationalists Naim Frashëri
Naim Frashëri
Naim Frashëri was an Albanian poet and writer. He was one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian National Awakening of the 19th century, together with his two brothers Sami and Abdyl...
and Sami Frashëri. Born in Janina (present day Ioannina
Ioannina
Ioannina , often called Jannena within Greece, is the largest city of Epirus, north-western Greece, with a population of 70,203 . It lies at an elevation of approximately 500 meters above sea level, on the western shore of lake Pamvotis . It is located within the Ioannina municipality, and is the...
) in 1883 and was raised in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
. In Istanbul, his family organised the Albanian nationalist movement. Giving up his studies of pharmacology
Pharmacology
Pharmacology is the branch of medicine and biology concerned with the study of drug action. More specifically, it is the study of the interactions that occur between a living organism and chemicals that affect normal or abnormal biochemical function...
, he worked for the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
administration in the vilayet of Salonika from a period from 1905 to 1910. Using the pen name Lumo Skendo, he began publishing the weekly newspaper “Lirija” in Salonika, which lasted until 1910. He participated in the Congress of Monastir in 1908, and in January of the next year, he began editing a monthly magazine entitled “Diturija”, a magazine based on the cultural, literary and scholarly interest of Albania.
Congress of Monastir
Mit’hat Frashëri was one of the fifty delegates that who helped form the modern Albanian alphabetAlbanian alphabet
The modern Albanian alphabet is based on the Latin alphabet, and consists of 36 letters:Note: The vowels are shown in bold. to the pronunciation of the letters.-History:...
. Mit'hat Frashëri became vice-chairman of the commission. Mit'hat Frashëri was also elected chairman of the congress and Parashqevi Qiriazi
Parashqevi Qiriazi
Parashqevi Qiriazi was an Albanian teacher who dedicated her life to the Albanian alphabet and to the instruction of written Albanian language. She was a woman participant at the Congress of Monastir, which decided the form of the Albanian alphabet, and the founder of the Yll' i Mengjesit, a...
chairwoman of the commission of the alphabet, which was responsible for the organization of the various alphabet proposals.
Albanian Declaration of Independence
Mid’hat bey’s political views took on a more extreme nationalist character during the Balkan WarsBalkan Wars
The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...
and in the final collapse of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
when Albania was on the verge of being carved up by its Balkan neighbours. Mit’hat Frashëri was one of the eighty-three leaders meeting in Vlorë in November 1912. He was one of the signers of the declaration of independence and became the Minister of Public Services in the Provisional Government of Albania
Provisional Government of Albania
The Provisional Government of Albania is the first Government created by Assembly of Vlorë in 4 December 1912. It was a paternal government, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation in 22 January 1914 and by Fejzi Bej Alizoti, until the coronation of William, Prince of Albania.- Government...
. He later became the Albanian consul general in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
and postmaster general. At the beginning of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Met'hat was interned in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
for a time, but after he was release, he returned to publishing. Mid’hat resided in Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
for a time with his cousin Mehdi Frashëri, where he was author of a number of newspaper articles and essays. On 25 November 1920, he was appointed chairman of the Albanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference
Paris Peace Conference, 1919
The Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors following the end of World War I to set the peace terms for the defeated Central Powers following the armistices of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than 32 countries and nationalities...
, where he remained until 1922. In Paris, he continued his journalistic activities in the French press to publicize Albania’s position in the postwar restructuring of Europe. He subsequently held other ministerial posts and was Albanian ambassador to Greece and to the United States from 1922 to 1926.
Quiet period
Under the ZogZog of Albania
Zog I, Skanderbeg III of the Albanians , born Ahmet Muhtar Bey Zogolli, was King of the Albanians from 1928 to 1939. He was previously Prime Minister of Albania and President of Albania .-Background and early political career:...
regime in 1925, Mid’hat left public life and opened a bookstore in Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...
. He himself possessed an exceptionally large private library of some 20,000 volumes, the largest collection in the country at the time. With the rise of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
looking inevitable, Mit'hat began forming the National Front (Balli Kombëtar) to use in the war to create Greater Albania
Greater Albania
Greater Albania or Ethnic Albania is an irredentist concept of lands outside the borders of the Republic of Albania that are considered part of a greater national homeland by most Albanians, based on the present-day or historical presence of Albanian populations in those areas...
.
Balli Kombëtar presidency
He was the leader of the Balli Kombëtar nationalist movement during the Second World War. Balli Kombëtar was a political organization that mainly fought for Greater Albania.After World War II and death
In 1945, the communists won the war in Albania. Mit'hat escaped the communists by fleeing to southern Italy. The early years of the cold war found Mid’hat Frashëri in the West trying to patch together a coalition of anti-communist opposition forces in Britain and the United States. In August 1949, he was elected as head of a Free Albania Committee. He died of a heart attack at the Lexington Hotel on Lexington Avenue in New York.His cousin, Mehdi Frashëri, served as Albanian Prime Minister under a German
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
-backed Albanian Government.
Legacy
Frashëri's entire library of some 20,000 volumes, the largest in AlbaniaAlbania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
at that time, was confiscated by the new regime. The library included significant albanological works inherited from Franz Nopcsa von Felsö-Szilvás
Franz Nopcsa von Felso-Szilvás
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás was a Hungarian-born aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, and paleontologist...
.
Quotes
When Albania declared independence from the Ottoman Empire:- "Until now the Albanians have lived very little for themselves; their activity, their blood, their talents have profited their neighbors. They have consecrated their best for the good of others. Now they must live and work for themselves, for their Albania"
In regards to Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
's Albanian Communists:
- "Quislings who collaborated with TitoJosip Broz TitoMarshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
" - "These 'Quislings' are no longer Albanian. They have forgotten how to be Albanian"