Myfit Libohova

Bust of Müfid Bey in Vlora

Myfit bej Libohova (also Mufid Bey ; * 1876 in Libohova , † February 7, 1927 in Saranda ) was an Albanian politician. In 1912 he was involved in the proclamation of Albanian independence. He then held various ministerial offices until 1925.

Life

Myfit Bey came from the southern Albanian landowner family Libohova-Arslan Pashali. His father was governor in Gjirokastra and in 1879 a member of the first Ottoman parliament.

After studying at the universities of Istanbul and Lausanne, Libohova entered the diplomatic service of the Ottoman Empire in 1900. He was an envoy in Greece, Belgium and Switzerland, rather he turned to politics after the Young Turkish Revolution. Based on the numerous clientele of his family, he was elected as a member of parliament for Gjirokastra. There he was committed to the autonomy of Albania within the Ottoman Empire.

After the First Balkan War broke out , he spoke out in favor of the full independence of his home country, for which the Ottoman judiciary sentenced him to death in absentia. On November 28, 1912, Myfit Bey took part in the proclamation of Albanian independence in Vlorë. In the first Albanian government under his cousin Ismail Qemali , Myfit Bey took over the office of interior minister. He soon resigned this post to Esat Pasha Toptani and was instead appointed Foreign Minister. At the turn of the year 1913/14 he held the office of Prime Minister for a short time. At the beginning of 1914, Myfit Bey was sent to the International Control Commission as the Albanian representative, which was supposed to accompany the state establishment of Albania. He also held various ministerial offices. Due to differences with Wilhelm zu Wied , who was appointed Prince of Albania , he resigned in July 1914.

From September 1914, Myfit Bey was an Albanian chargé d'affaires in Rome for a short time. Soon after, there was no longer an Albanian government and the country was occupied by the warring powers. When the Entente occupied the Greek island of Corfu , Libohova went there and waited for the Italians to displace the Greek occupation in southern Albania before returning home. He turned down the offer to head civil administration in the Italian zone of occupation.

Myfit Bey Libohova was involved in the formation of the first Albanian post-war government in Durrës at the end of 1918 . This was under the protectorate of the Italian occupiers and only had a certain influence in central and parts of southern Albania. Myfit Bey was in Paris from April to August 1919 to represent Albanian interests at the peace conference . When the Lushnja Congress elected a new government in January 1920, Myfit Bey withdrew from politics for some time. An attack on him was attempted in 1921, but he escaped unharmed. In 1923 Libohova was elected to parliament for Gjirokastra. He joined the faction of the progressives, which represented the interests of the large landowners. In March 1924 he became Minister of Finance. Before the democratic revolution, which briefly ousted the old elites from power, Myfit Bey had left the government.

Libohova was a staunch opponent of the reforms that Fan Noli began as prime minister in the second half of 1924. He went into exile in Greece in Ioannina . There he set up a troop, at the head of which he marched to southern Albania in December 1924 to support the Ahmet Zogu putsch . In his government he became finance minister. In this function, Libohova awarded the concession to found the Albanian National Bank to an Italian consortium. Soon the accusation arose that he had received bribes from Italy for this. He then resigned as minister. Myfit Bey died in Saranda in early 1927.

Works

• Tepedeleni Ali Paşa (1903), a biography of Ali Pasha from Tepelana
• Politika ime në Shqipëri 1916-1920 (1921), political memories

literature

• Peter Bartl: Libohova, Mufid Bey . In: Mathias Bernath, Felix von Schroeder (Ed.), Gerda Bartl (Red.): Biographical Lexicon for the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 3. Oldenbourg, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-486-48991-7 , pp. 31-33.
• Ekrem Bey Vlora : Memoirs . 2 volumes. Oldenbourg, Munich 1968–1973, ISBN 3-486-47571-1 , ( Southeast European Works 66–67).