Mati Kodheli (1862–1881) was an ethnically Albanian photographer in the Ottoman Empire who served as an apprentice to master photographer Pietro Marubi. He was the older brother of Kel Kodheli.

Life

Mati Kodheli was born in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

to a lower-middle-class family. His father Rrok Kodheli, worked as a gardener at the estate of Italian photographer Pietro Marubi from

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, who had recently settled in Albania after being forced to leave his native country for being accused of involvement in the murder of the local town mayor. Mati was sent to study photography at the Sebastianutti & Benque studio in

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 ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. He died prematurely at the young age of nineteen, from tuberculosis.Historiku i Fotografisë Shqiptare
/ref> Only two negatives of his work collection have survived, a 1878 photograph of the Shkodër Musical Band, whom he was a member of, and a photograph of his childhood friend

Kolë Idromeno Nikoll Idromeno (; 15 August 186012 December 1939), better known as Kolë Idromeno, was an Albanian painter, sculptor, architect, photographer, cinematographer, composer and engineer during the Albanian Renaissance in the nineteenth century. He ...

References

{{authority control Albanian photographers People from Shkodër 1862 births 1881 deaths Photographers from the Ottoman Empire