Ferid Vokopola (18 August 1887 – 28 June 1969) was an Albanian politician, theologist, translator and a delegate of

Lushnjë Lushnjë (; in Lushnje's own dialect: ''Lushnje'' ; sq-definite, Lushnja) is a city and municipality in west-central Albania. It is located in the County of Fier. The total population is 83,659 (2011 census), in a total area of . History ...

in the

Assembly of Vlora Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

held on 28 November 1912, and one of the 40 signatories of 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 ...

Life

He was born on August 18, 1887 in the village of

Vokopolë Ferid Vokopola (18 August 1887 – 28 June 1969) was an Albanian politician, theologist, translator and a delegate of Lushnjë in the Assembly of Vlora held on 28 November 1912, and one of the 40 signatories of the Albanian Declaration of In ...

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in th ...

, then part of

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) ...

. In early 19th century, his family moved to the city of Berat, where he completed his elementary school. He completed the high school in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

, where he later also completed his university studies in law and economics. After finishing school, he returned in Berat and lived for several years in the city, where he served as a lawyer in the city. In November 1912 he was elected delegate of

in the National Assembly of Vlora and he was youngest among all participants. Signed the Declaration of Independence with the initials “M. Ferit Vokopola ”. He was the among the signatories of Independence and a delegate of Vlora. In 1920 was one of the organizers of the

Congress of Lushnja 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 a ...

. He was among the founders of the Madrasah of Tirana and collaborator of secular and religious press. He was the first to translate

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

from English into Albanian. In 1914 he was

Minister of Agriculture An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...

. During this time he developed the rules for translation of the Quran. He was a prominent representative of

Islamic Mysticism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...

in Albania, in the first half of the 20th century, and was ranked as one of the most important Albanian specializing in

Persian studies Persian studies (Persian: مطالعات فارسی) is the study of the Persian language and its literature specifically. It is differentiated from Iranian studies which is a broader, more interdisciplinary subject that focuses more on the histo ...

. He was a well-known figure of his time. In 1920-1928 he was elected Member of Parliament of Vlora, and during the years 1928-1939 he was Member of Parliament of Berat. He was the First Secretary of the Congress of Lushnja. He wrote anthem of the Congress. He was a very successful politician, economist, theologian, poet, philosopher and essayist.

References

19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence 1887 births 1969 deaths People from Berat People from Janina vilayet Government ministers of Albania Agriculture ministers of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Albanian economists All-Albanian Congress delegates Congress of Lushnjë delegates Translators of the Quran into Albanian Sufi poets Turkish–Albanian translators 20th-century translators Istanbul University Faculty of Law alumni {{Albania-politician-stub