A Biographical Dictionary
of Albanian History
ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3
I.B. Tauris in association with the Centre for Albanian Studies, London 2013
ix + 541 pp.
Introduction
There has long been a lack of information and, in particular, of reliable information about the
figures and events of Albanian history. The more one investigates them, the more one comes
to realise that they have been enveloped in an opaque cloak of myth, fantasy and wishful
thinking.
This Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History attempts to rectify the situation by
providing clear and objective information about most notable Albanian and Albanian-related
figures of the past, from ancient times to the end of the twentieth
century. The alphabetically arranged entries given in this book
offer biographical information on over 740 individuals, and, in
many cases, provide an overview of relevant publications and an
evaluation of the historical or cultural significance of the persons
in question.
Included in this dictionary are not only figures of Albanian
(political) history itself, but also noted proponents of Albanian
culture, such as writers, artists and scholars, and non-Albanians
who have had close ties with Albania in one way or another,
among whom are scholars, writers, political and military figures,
and travellers. They range from Illyrian kings to recent political leaders, but also comprise
individuals as diverse as an eighteenth-century Montenegrin impostor, a German circus
acrobat and an Austrian mistress of King Zog. The basic criterion for inclusion in this volume
is that the figures in question should be persons whom the reader, student or scholar might
have come across in Balkan history, in general research or simply in reading, and might want
to know more about. As a general rule, the figures must be deceased, although exceptions
have been made for a few elderly individuals of historical interest, for instance, political
representatives of the communist period in Albania that ended in 1991.
Some of the entries included in this dictionary are based on material published earlier in my
books: Historical Dictionary of Albania (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2010) and Historical
Dictionary of Kosovo (Lanham: Scarecrow Press, 2011) which, despite their titles, are works of
a more general nature, as well as in my Early Albania: a Reader of Historical Texts (Wiesbaden:
Harrassowitz, 2003), Albanian Literature: a Short History (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005) and my
two-volume History of Albanian Literature (Boulder: Social Science Monographs, 1995).
Needless to say, hundreds of other sources have been consulted over the five-year period
that has led to the conclusion of this overwhelming project, overwhelming at least for the
author. A bibliography of all major sources is provided at the end of the book, as is a
glossary of place names, to help orient the interested reader.
Despite its broad scope, this book cannot claim to compete with the "dictionaries of national
biography" published for major western countries whose histories have been well explored
and documented. With Albanian history, we must content ourselves with much less. Source
material is usually sketchy and has often not been properly evaluated.
Though they are in essence Europeans, the Albanians evince many of the traits and suffer
from many of the trial and tribulations of developing nations in the Third World. They have
never had a solid written culture and the results of their scholarly endeavours have often
been shoddy. Indeed it is no exaggeration to state that historiography in the Albanian world
is in a lamentable state. Few native scholars have been able to bridle their passion – be it their
enthusiasm or their Balkan inat (rage) – to provide clear and objective information on the
figures of their past. For one, the cult of Balkan heroism is still very strong and persuasive.
The Albanians, like other peoples in the Balkans, have tended to view their history in terms
of good guys and bad guys, the good guys being those who have illuminated the nation and
struggled in one way or another on its behalf; the bad guys being the rest. Encyclopaedic
works and public discourse in Albania and Kosovo include only those historical figures who
are found to be “worthy” in accordance with the cultural and political criteria of the period.
If their biographies are not one-hundred percent lily white in the political or more often
patriotic sense, they are cast aside, or “adapted” and revised to fulfil the needs of nationalist
ideology. More often than not, figures who do not meet the mark are passed over in rigorous
silence. This was particularly true, of course, for the tragic Stalinist period (1944-1991), but
attitudes have not changed fundamentally. To include someone in a lexicon or a book in
Albania is to set him (or very rarely her) on a pedestal and praise him (or very rarely her).
An attempt has been made in this dictionary, at any rate, to sift through the layers of rosy
nationalist endeavour and to present the figures of Albanian history as they were, as genuine
human beings. Much remains to be done to complete the picture and this dictionary can only
be a small contribution to putting the pieces of the puzzle together. The history of Albania
has yet to be written.
Finally a technical note. Albanian place names often cause confusion because, like other
nouns in the language, they can be written with or without the postpositive definite article,
e.g., Tirana vs Tiranë and Elbasani vs Elbasan. In line with recommended international usage
for Albanian toponyms, feminine place names appear here in the definite form and
masculine place names in the indefinite form, thus: Tirana, Vlora, Prishtina and Shkodra
rather than Tiranë, Vlorë, Prishtinë and Shkodër; and Elbasan, Durrës and Prizren rather
than Elbasani, Durrësi and Prizreni. Exceptions are made for tribal designations and regions
for which English forms such as Hoti, Kelmendi and Shkreli are better known. In this
connection, reference is made to the political leader Ahmet Zogu, but from the time he
became king of Albania in 1928, to King Zog, in line with common usage.
It remains for me simply to express my gratitude to the many people who responded with
patience to my questions and inquiries, in particular to Bejtullah Destani of the Centre for
Albanian Studies in London who “fed” me with much information, and Maksim Gjinaj of the
National Library of Albania in Tirana who provided me with many an otherwise
irretrievable fact or detail.
Robert Elsie
Scheveningen, the Netherlands
April 2012