Costa Chekrezi (31 March 1892 – 10 January 1959), also known as Constantin Anastas Chekrezi ( sq, Kostandin Çekrezi) was an
Albanian
Albanian may refer to:
*Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular:
**Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans
**Albanian language
**Albanian culture
**Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...
patriot, historian, and publicist.
Biography
Chekrezi was born on 31 March 1892 in
Ziçisht village, in the Upper
Devoll region located near
Korça (back then
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
, now
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
).
After finishing a 5-year school in his native village, he finished the Greek high school in the town of
Korça on June 12, 1910. The school documents show he was awarded as "excellent student in all subjects", and earned a scholarship from the Ottoman government to attend (where he stayed for a year only till 1912) the law school in
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, now Greece. The studies were interrupted by the start of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
After the
Albanian Declaration of Independence
The Albanian Declaration of Independence ( Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Assem ...
until 1914 Chekrezi lived in
Vlorë
Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...
where he worked as a secretary in the Civil Court of the town, later as an interpreter for the International Control Commission assigned near
Ismail Qemali
Ismail Qemal bey Vlora, mostly known as Ismail Qemali (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian diplomat, politician, rilindas, statesman and the Founding Father of modern Albania, and one of the most famous Southern Albanian person. Th ...
's government and later
Prince Wied
Prince Wilhelm of Wied (German: ''Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich Prinz zu Wied'', 26 March 1876 – 18 April 1945), reigned briefly as sovereign of the Principality of Albania as Vilhelm I from 7 March to 3 September 1914, when he left for exile. H ...
.
When
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
started, Chekrezi emigrated to the US via Italy. Despite his young in age, only 23 years old, Costa Chekrezi became editor of the newspaper "
The Sun" ( sq, Dielli), in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and was
chief editor
An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies.
The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
of the newspaper from 1915 to 1919. He also published monthly magazine ''Illyria'', and gave a huge contribution to the
Vatra's monthly publication ''
The Adriatic Review
''The Adriatic Review'' was a monthly periodical published in Boston by Vatra from September 1918 until October 1919.
In September 1918, Fan Noli founded the English-language monthly ''Adriatic Review'' which was financed by the Pan-Albanian fede ...
'', where he emphasized the atrocities over Albanians during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Meanwhile, besides being a
polyglot
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingualism, monolingual speakers in the World population, world's pop ...
, he studied economics, public administration and English language at
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
. He graduated at 17 June 1918, with a ''
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
'' degree.
Constantine has also translated into Albanian, a short history of Albania, written by
Frederick Gibert, which was published in Boston, and wrote a historical study named "Albania, past and present", published in 1919 in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
which was translated and published in Albania only in 2012 during the 100th anniversary of Declaration of Independence.
For a period of two years, he has been a professor of history at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
.
According to Elsie he briefly returned to Albania in 1920 to participate in the
Congress of Lushnje
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
.
In the years 1922–1932, has been the accredited representative of the Albanian Government (coming out of the Congress of Lushnje), with the title "Albanian Commissioner in Washington", also a member of the
National Press Club in the U.S. In 1923, his English-Albanian dictionary came out.
After returning in Albania in 1925, he would come in sharp conflict with
King Zog
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
, specifically to some concessions made in favor of the Italian-Albanian banks newly positioned as part of Zog's affiliation with Italy. Since the first meeting with
Ahmet Zagolli, he criticized Albanian political relations with
Belgrade
Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
as well. In 1929, he served as member of the first
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
( sq, Këshilli i Shtetit), established on April 11 of that year. The following years will show him as an impressive publicist, editor of the newspapers ''Telegraf'' ("Telegraph") and ''Ora'' ("Watch"), where he was pushed to publish some pro-monarchy articles, but immediately after the announcement of the monarchy, Costa Chekrezi was arrested by direct orders of
Koço Kota
Kostaq Kotta, also known as Koço Kotta (5 May 1886 – 1 September 1947), was an Albanian politician and twice prime minister during the reign of King Zog, who took a pro-Italian right-wing stance.
Biography
He was educated in Greece and Ital ...
and sentenced to one year imprisonment. His newspapers, "Telegraf" and "Ora" were shut down forever.
After being an active leader and participant of the
Fier Revolt of 1935,
he had to flee Albania towards Italy together with his friends Musa Kranja and Xhevahir Arapi on an Italian fishing boat. They reached
Monopoli
Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 ...
and were transferred to a prison in
Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
for three month. There Chekrezi would write to
Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...
asking for his release. After three months they were released and gained the
right of Political Asylum. Meanwhile, in Albania, he was sentenced to death in abstention. While trying to form the Organization of Albanian Emigrants ( sq, Organizata e Shqiptarëve në Emigracion), Chekrezi was arrested by the French government and surprisingly placed into the
concentration camp of Vernet d' Ariege in France until 27 October 1941. It is not very clear why he was placed there and how he escaped from it. After that, he left for America.
It was 28 December 1941 when Chekrezi together with
Tajar Zavalani formed in Boston "Free Albania" ( sq, Shqipëria e Lirë) organization trying to act like an Albanian Government in Exile, possibly with established connections with
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines for all branc ...
, and similarly to what Vatra somehow had functioned during the World War I.
He gave up this organization in 1945.
Costa Chekrezi has made efforts to maintain bridges between the Allies and Albania. In 1946, he was the one to receive a delegation headed by
Tuk Jakova
Tuk Jakova (20 February 1914 – 26 August 1959) was an Albanian politician in the People's Republic of Albania. He served as Chairman of the Constituent Assembly, Minister of Finance, Minister of Interior, and twice as Vice-Prime Minist ...
in
New Yorker Hotel
The New Yorker, A Wyndham Hotel is a mixed-use hotel building at 481 Eighth Avenue in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1930, the New Yorker Hotel was designed by Sugarman and Berger in the ...
, and the second meeting with
Mihal Prifti, where Costa suggested that the Albanian government should find the way to connect with the Western powers, especially USA, and abolish the "friendly" relations with
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
of
Tito
Tito may refer to:
People Mononyms
* Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman
* Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...
, drawing parallels with
King Zog
King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king.
*In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
-
Nikola Pašić
Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat who was a leading political figure for almost 40 years. He was the leader of the People's Radical P ...
agreements. In the autumn of 1950, he hosted a meeting with Albanian representatives
Behar Shtylla and
Vilson Progri at the
Governor Clinton Hotel.
In 1951, he published the political analysis "The third plan for partitioning Albania" in
Washington D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, Na ...
Constantin Chekrezi, was overshadowed for half a century by the
communist regime
A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...
; he died near
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, on January 10, 1959, at the age of 66. At his funeral,
Fan Noli
Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, Archbishop, Metropolitan and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox ...
would describe him as a "statesman, who had struggled all his life for his nation, and a great Albanian guy who had to die poor".
Work
* ''Letra shkresa fialetore'' ("Literary letters and writings") (1917), Boston
* ''Albania and the Balkans'' (1917),
* ''Albania past and present'' (1919), New York : The Macmillan company
* ''Këndime për rjeshten e funtme te shkollave filltare'' ("Reading, for the last grade of elementary schools") (1921), Boston
* ''Histori e Shqipërisë'' ("History of Albania") (1921), Boston
* ''Histori e vjetër që në kohërat e Pellazgëve gjer në rrënien e Perandorisë Romane'' ("Ancient history from the Pelasgian times till the fall of Roman Empire") (1921), Boston
* ''Histori e re e Evropës'' ("New European history") (1921), Boston
* ''Historia mesjetare e Evropës që në rënien e Romës gjer në rënien e Kostantinopojës'' ("Medieval history of Europe from the fall of Rome till the fall of Constantinople") (478-1453) (1921), Boston 1921
* ''Chekrezi's English-Albanian dictionary'' ( sq, Fjalor inglisht-shqip i Çekrezit) (1923), Boston
* ''The third plan for partitioning Albania'' ( sq, Plani i tretë per copëtimin e Shqipërisë) (1951), Washington D.C.
See also
*
Albanian Kingdom
*
Albanian Subversion
Operation Valuable, also known as the Albanian subversion () or Secret Anglo-American invasion of communist Albania, was one of the earliest covert paramilitary operations in the Eastern Bloc. The main goal of the operation was to overthrow th ...
*
List of Albanian Americans
This is a list of notable Albanian Americans, including both original immigrants who obtained American citizenship and their American descendants.
Politics
* Sal Albanese – politician
* Richard Caliguiri – American politician
* Joe DioGuard ...
*
Vatra, the Pan-Albanian Federation of America
Vatra ('' en, The Hearth'') is an association of Albanian Americans, created in 1912, that has historically protected the rights of the Albanians in the United States, as well as has endeavored in lobbying with the United States Congress about the ...
References
External links
VATRA's Official Website"Dielli" Albanian-American newspaper
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chekrezi, Kostandin
20th-century Albanian historians
Albanian translators
French–Albanian translators
English–Albanian translators
1892 births
1959 deaths
People from Devoll (municipality)
People from Manastir vilayet
Albanians from the Ottoman Empire
Albanian emigrants to the United States
Harvard University alumni
20th-century translators
Albanian publishers (people)
20th-century Albanian politicians
Albanian diplomats
Columbia University faculty