Abdyl Frashëri

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Abdyl Frashëri (1880)
As a figure of the Albanian resistance against the Ottomans, Abdyl Frashëri is commemorated in many Albanian cities with statues and busts, like here in Tirana

Abdyl Frashëri (born August 17, 1839 in Frashër , † October 11, 1892 in Istanbul ) was an Albanian - Ottoman author, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was one of the most important activists of the Albanian national movement Rilindja ; he was instrumental in founding the League of Prizren in 1878.

Life

Abdyl Frashëri came from a Bektaschi family and was the eldest son of the impoverished Pasha Halit Bey Frashëri (1797-1859) and Emine Hanëm (1814-1861). He received his early education at Frashër-Tekke . After the death of his parents, he moved with his family - including his brothers Naim and Sami Frashëri , who were also historically important - from their home village to Ioannina in 1865 and entered the service of the Ottoman state; In 1877 he became head of the customs office in Ioannina. In 1876 he was a member of the first Ottoman parliament .

When, in the course of the Treaty of San Stefano in 1878, the Albanian-populated areas were threatened with ceding to Bulgaria and Montenegro , Frashëri began to deal with the national question in a journalistic way. He wrote articles in Ottoman and Greek-language newspapers in which he was the first to publicly discuss the concerns of the Albanian population.

Together with other Albanian intellectuals he founded the Central Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian People (Alb. Komiteti qendror për mbrojtjen e të drejtave të kombësisë shqiptare) in Istanbul in 1877 . Its aim was to achieve a certain autonomy for the Albanian settlement areas within the Ottoman Empire. In June 1878 Abdyl Frashëri took part in Prizren as a representative of the Istanbul Central Committee in the establishment of the League of Prizren, in which he played a leading role in the following years. Then he went to southern Albania, where he tried to implement the league's goal of preventing the cession of Albanian-populated areas to the Balkan states. He founded an Albanian committee for Ioannina and raised troops to counter the annexation of Epirus by Greece. An assembly of Muslim and Christian landowners held under his leadership in the Bektashi- Tekke of his home village agreed on an autonomy program that was adopted by the league in Prizren in November 1878.

In 1879 Abdyl Frashëri visited Berlin , Paris , Vienna and Rome with Mehmed Ali Vrioni to seek support for the Albanian cause from the great powers and to present the governments there with a memorandum with the Albanian demands. However, these efforts were completely ineffective.

In October 1879, Frashëri was a co-founder of the Istanbul Society for the Printing of Albanian Literature (alb. Shoqëria e të shtypurit shkronja shqip) .

In January 1881 the Prizren League took over the administration of Vilayets Kosovo under Frashëri's leadership . After Abdyl Frashëri had also deposed the Turkish head of administration in Dibra , the Ottoman government intervened with troops in April. After the league was broken, Abdyl Frashëri had to flee. While fleeing through Albania, he was caught near Elbasan and first sentenced to death; but the sentence was reduced to life imprisonment. At the end of 1885 Frashëri was released and was not allowed to stay in the Albanian Vilayets afterwards. He died in Istanbul on October 11, 1892.

Private life

Abdyl Frashëri was married to Ballkëze Frashëri (nee Lahçenja). The couple had three sons: Feridun , Halid and Midhat Frashëri .

literature

  • Peter Bartl: The Albanian Muslims at the time of the national independence movement (1878-1912). Wiesbaden 1968.
  • Mathias Bernath u. a. (Ed.): Bibliographical lexicon on the history of Southeast Europe. Vol. 1. Munich 1974.
  • Robert Elsie : The three Frashëri brothers. In: State Museum of Ethnology (Ed.): Albania. Wealth and diversity of ancient culture . Museum für Völkerkunde, Munich 2001, pp. 147–152 ( online , PDF file, 106 kB).
  • Johannes Faensen: The Albanian National Movement . Wiesbaden 1980.
  • Hasan Kaleshi: Frashëri, Abdyl . In: Biographical Lexicon on the History of Southeast Europe . Volume 1. Munich 1974, pp. 535-537
  • Kristo Frashëri: Abdyl Frashëri. 1839-1892. Tiranë 1984.

Web links

Commons : Abdyl Frashëri  - collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Frashëri, Abdyl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Albanian activist and leader of the national movement
DATE OF BIRTH 17th August 1839
PLACE OF BIRTH Frashër , Albania
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1892
Place of death Istanbul