Mary Edith Durham, (8 December 1863 – 15 November 1944) was a British artist, anthropologist and writer who is best known for her
anthropological
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...
accounts of life in
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 ...
in the early 20th century. Her advocacy on behalf of the Albanian cause and her
Albanophilia
Albanophilia (literally love for Albania and Albanians) the expression by a non-Albanian person of a strong interest in or appreciation for the Albanian language, Albanian culture, Albanian literature, Albanian history or the Albanian people.
Alb ...
gained her the devotion of many Albanians who consider her a national heroine.
Early life
Durham was the eldest of nine children. Her father, Arthur Edward Durham, was a distinguished London surgeon. She attended
Bedford College (1878–1882), followed by the
Royal Academy of Arts
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purpo ...
, to train as an artist. She exhibited widely and contributed a number of detailed drawings to the amphibia and reptiles volume of the ''Cambridge Natural History'' (published 1899).
Balkan expeditions
After the death of her father, Durham took on the responsibilities of caring for her sick mother for several years. It proved an exhausting experience. When she was 37, her doctor recommended that she should undertake a foreign vacation to recuperate.
She took a trip by sea down the coast of
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...
, travelling from
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...
to
Kotor
Kotor (Montenegrin Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian: ), is a coastal town in Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has a population of 13,510 and is the administrative c ...
and then overland to
Cetinje
Cetinje (, ) is a town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital (''prijestonica'' / приjестоница) of Montenegro and is the location of several national institutions, including the official residence of the president of Montenegro ...
, the capital of
Montenegro
)
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. It gave her a taste for southern Balkan life, which she retained for the rest of her life. On her return to London she studied the Serbian language and the history of the region.
Durham travelled extensively in the Balkans in order to write her first book ''Through the Lands of the Serbs'' published in London in 1904. In 1908 she wrote ''High Albania'' after travelling through the Albanian highlands, from
Montenegro
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to
Shkodra.
Over the next twenty years she focused particularly on Albania, which then was one of the most isolated and undeveloped areas of Europe. She worked in a variety of relief organisations, painted and wrote, and she also collected folklore and folk art.
She contributed frequently to the journal ''Man'' and became a Fellow of the
Royal Anthropological Institute
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
. Her writings, however, were to earn her particular fame. She wrote seven books on Balkan affairs. ''High Albania'' (1909) is the best known and is still regarded as the pre-eminent guide to the customs and the society of northern Albania's highlands.
Controversy
After being a fervent admirer of the Serbs which saw her write ''Through the Lands of the Serbs'', followed by an anti-Austrian and pro-Yugoslav phase, Durham came to identify closely with the Albanian cause and championed the unity and independence of the Albanian people. She was strongly criticised by the advocates of a
Yugoslav state, who supported the incorporation of the Albanian-populated region of Kosovo into Yugoslavia. According to American scholars
Thomas Cushman and
Stjepan Meštrović Stjepan Gabriel Meštrović (born 1955) is an American sociologist. He is professor of sociology at Texas A&M University. Meštrović has served as an expert witness in war crimes trials, including at the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse case ...
, her eccentric personality and her incessant lobbying activity made her despised by the
British Foreign Office
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom. Equivalent to other countries' ministries of foreign affairs, it was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign ...
.
Becoming increasingly
anti-Serb following 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 ...
,
she denounced what she termed "Serb vermin" for having "not created a Jugoslavia but have carried out their original aim of making Great Serbia.... Far from being liberated the bulk of people live under a far harsher rule than before".
Other, British intellectuals who were more pro-Serb sharply criticised her views. Author
Dame Rebecca West included Durham in her description of the sort of traveller who came back "with a pet Balkan people established in their hearts as suffering and innocent, eternally the massacree and never the massacrer" (Durham sued West over this)
and then went on to say: "The Bulgarians, as preferred by some, and the Albanians, as championed by others, strongly resembled Sir
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
's picture of the Infant Samuel".
R.W. Seton-Watson commented that "the fact is that while always denouncing 'Balkan mentality', she is herself exactly what she means by the word".
[The Durham–Seton-Watson correspondence is housed in the Seton-Walson papers at the ]School of Slavonic and East European Studies
The UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES ) is a school of University College London (UCL) specializing in Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. It teaches a range of subjects, including the history ...
, London.
For their part, however, the Albanians held Durham in high regard and dubbed her ''"Mbretëresha e Malësoreve"'' (the "Queen of the Highlanders)". She was given an embroidered waistcoat by the government to thank her for lobbying the British government on behalf of the occupied city of
Korçë
Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...
.
She was well received in the Albanian Highlands and passed unmolested despite being a lone female traveller. She benefited from the Albanian tradition of ensuring a guest's safety and from an ancient Albanian custom, the tradition of "
Sworn virgins", women who wore men's clothes and were regarded as protected individuals.
When she died in 1944, she received high praise for her work from the exiled
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 t ...
, who wrote: "She gave us her heart and she won the ear of our mountaineers". She is still regarded as something of a national heroine; in 2004,
Albanian President
This is a list of heads of state of Albania who have served since the Declaration of Independence of 1912.
Since the collapse of the communist regime in 1991, the head of state of Albania is the President of the Republic ( sq, Presidenti i Re ...
Alfred Moisiu
Alfred Spiro Moisiu (; born 1 December 1929) is a former Albanian military general, diplomat and politician. He was the President of Albania from 2002 to 2007. He is the oldest son of Albanian Army general, Spiro Moisiu.
Early life, education ...
described her as "one of the most distinguished personalities of the Albanian world during the last century"
Collections
Much of Durham's work was donated to academic collections following her death. Her papers are held by the
Royal Anthropological Institute
The Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland (RAI) is a long-established anthropological organisation, and Learned Society, with a global membership. Its remit includes all the component fields of anthropology, such as biolo ...
, London, her diaries are in the
Bankfield Museum,
Halifax along with her collections of Balkan costume and jewellery given in 1935. Further gifts of mostly Balkan artefacts were given to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
in 1914 and to the
Pitt Rivers Museum
Pitt Rivers Museum is a museum displaying the archaeological and anthropological collections of the University of Oxford in England. The museum is located to the east of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, and can only be accessed t ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and the
Horniman Museum
The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a museum in Forest Hill, London, England. Commissioned in 1898, it opened in 1901 and was designed by Charles Harrison Townsend in the Modern Style. It has displays of anthropology, natural history and musical ...
,
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
.
Some items from her textile collection were displayed in a 2020 exhibition.
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
Through the Lands of the Serb' (1904)
*
' (1905)
*
' (1909)
* ''The struggle for Scutari'' (1914)
* ''Twenty Years of Balkan Tangle'' (1920)
*
The Sarajevo Crime' (1925)
* ''Some Tribal Origins, Laws and Customs of the Balkans'' (1928)
* ''Albania and the Albanians: selected articles and letters, 1903–1944'', ed. by Bejtullah Destani (I.B. Tauris, 2001)
* ''The Blaze in the Balkans; selected writings, 1903–1941'' edited by Robert Elsie and Bejtullah D Destani (I.B. Tauris, 2014)
Further reading
*Mary Edith Durham (2016). ''Nella Terra del Passato Vivente. La scoperta dell'Albania nell'Europa del primo Novecento''. Introduzione, traduzione, note e appendice di
Olimpia Gargano. Lecce: Besa. 2016
*Elizabeth Gowing (2013). ''Edith and I; on the trail of an Edwardian traveller in Kosovo.'' Elbow Publishing.
* Kastriot Frashëri (2004). ''Edith Durham : një zonjë e madhe për Shqipërinë''. Geer.
* Laura Emily Start (1939). ''The Durham Collection of Garments and Embroideries from Albania and Jugoslavia''. Halifax Corporation
* Gill Trethowan (1996). ''Queen of the Mountains: The Balkan Adventures of Edith Durham.'' British Council.
*
*
* Marcus Tanner (2014) ''Albania's Mountain Queen'' I.B. Tauris
External links
*
*
Works by Edith Durhamat
The Online Books Page
The Online Books Page is an index of e-text books available on the Internet. It is edited by John Mark Ockerbloom and is hosted by the library of the University of Pennsylvania. The Online Books Page lists over 2 million books and has several feat ...
Work containing scientific illustrations by Edith DurhamWorks by Edith Durhamat
Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Durham, Edith
1863 births
1944 deaths
Painters from London
Alumni of Bedford College, London
British anthropologists
British women anthropologists
British travel writers
19th-century English painters
20th-century English painters
Scientific illustrators
20th century in Albania
War correspondents of the Balkan Wars
Golders Green Crematorium
Fellows of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
Textile arts
British women travel writers