Qazim Dervishi (10 June 1908 – 19 January 1994) was the first

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 ...

international

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other titl ...

and a talented athlete and

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He was born in 1908 in the city of

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 ...

in a noble family of the time. In his honour the sports arena of Shkodër is now called Qazim Dervishi Sports Palace.

Life

Dervishi was born in Shkodër, on June 10, 1908. Since his childhood he had a passion for all kinds of sports and he practiced football and basketball during his teenage years. In 1924 he entered the "Harry Fultz" Technical School in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

. The motto of the school at that time was "If we rest we rust" ( sq, "Kush rri, ndryshket"). After finishing school he started teaching

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and he started training a team in Shkodër. He is known as the "man who brought basketball from Technical School" because of the popularity he gave the sport in his native city. In 1930 he was named headmaster of the "Malet Tona" campus in Shkodër. In 1939 he was transferred to the city of

Pogradec Pogradec () is the eleventh most populous city in Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a narrow plain between two mountain chains along the southwestern banks of the Lake of Ohrid. Its climate is profoundly inf ...

to work as a teacher but came back to Shkodër in 1942. Just three years after, he was named president of the sportive society

KS Vllaznia KS and variants may refer to: Businesses and organizations * , a German postwar commando frogman force * , a Norwegian type of company * Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities * PenAir, Peninsula Airways, Anchorage, Alaska, US (IAT ...

. In the years 1946-1947 he transferred to

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

where he taught the local youths the sport of

for the first time. During 1947 he worked in the

Peqin Peqin (, sq-definite, Peqini) is a town and municipality in Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality was formed at the 2015 local government reform by the merger of the former municipalities Gjoçaj, Karinë, Pajovë, Peqin, Përparim an ...

- Kavaje railway as an instructor on physical education. That is where he was arrested by the communist government because of his sympathy to ex-King of Albanians

Ahmet Zogu Zog I ( sq, Naltmadhnija e tij Zogu I, Mbreti i Shqiptarëve, ; 8 October 18959 April 1961), born Ahmed Muhtar bey Zogolli, taking the name Ahmet Zogu in 1922, was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's y ...

. This was influenced from the fact that he had studied in the "Harry Fultz" Technical School where most of the dissidents of the communist regime had studied. A 22-month investigation was made from the "Sigurimi" that "found enough proofs" to declare him guilty of propaganda against the communist regime. He was punished with a sentence of 18 years but he served only until 1954 because of very bad health conditions. He was paralyzed and he managed to get a paralysis financial assistance. In 1993, he was given the title "The Nation's Teacher" for his contribution in sports. In 2009 the Council of the Municipality of Shkoder accorded to him the title "Honorary Citizen". He died in January 1994 in the age of 86 years, honored from the

Albanian people The Albanians (; sq, Shqiptarët ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, culture, history and language. They primarily live in Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Se ...

Sporting activities

As soon as Dervishi went for studies in Tirana, he started taking part in the sportive activities that were held in the school and often was named among the excellent students in sports. He practised and contributed in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

, etc. It should be mentioned that in an interview of Master Irfan Tershana, it is stated that Qazim was also one of the best

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

players of the

Technical School In the United States, a technical school is a type of two-year college that covers specialized fields such as business, finance, hospitality, tourism, construction, engineering, visual arts, information technology and community work. Associa ...

Athletics

His

career started when he entered the

in Tirana. From 1924 to 1928 he took some first and second prizes in the annual Olympic Games that were held in Tirana. He had his best results in

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and

triple jump The triple jump, sometimes referred to as the hop, step and jump or the hop, skip and jump, is a track and field event, similar to the long jump. As a group, the two events are referred to as the "horizontal jumps". The competitor runs down th ...

where he became national champion. In 1929 he was invited to join his hometown club, Bashkimi Shkodran for the first athletics championship in Albania. The team from Shkodër (the photo on the right) became national champions, having even Qazim's help. In the National Athletics Championship taken place in Tirana at 1930 he secured the first place in

with a result of 12.22 meters. He improved his result to 12.41 meters in the

, which secured him another first place in the National Athletics Championship of 1933.

Football

Even though Dervishi was a multiple champion in

, he had great success as a footballer. In fact, the school's vice-director Williams B. Juillirat chose him as a permanent advisor in football along with Spiro Kristo in

and Vangjel Qirio in

. Dervishi had success in

in the right wing as a right wing attacker. In 1929 he was called from SK Durrës football club to play in an international friendly match versus US Bari, of

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 ...

, in that time a

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

team. For the next ten years, until 1939, he would play with Bashkimi Shkodran (the photo on the right) and would become a key member of the team. He is also the scorer of the first goal ever in the Kategoria e Pare e Topkembes, scored against

SK Tirana Sport Klub Tirana, is an Albanian sports club based in the country's capital Tirana, most notable for its association football department. The club also consists of various other departments including basketball, volleyball, futsal Futsal is a ...

. After ending his career he started training youths in Shkodër and learning them to play

. To finalise his work with the youths of Shkodër he organized for the first time in Shkodër the local youths championship with kids coming from the city's schools. In this championship were discovered football talents that would later give Vllaznia the title. Some of the players discovered were

Muhamet Dibra Muhamet Dibra (31 October 1923 – 1 January 1998) was an Albanian football player. The road the Loro Boriçi Stadium is on in Shkodër is named after him and he received a number of notable awards for his services to sport in Albania. Club care ...

Pal Mirashi Pal Mirashi (13 December 1925 — 13 October 2001) was an Albanian football striker. He is known for being part of the 1946 Albania vs Yugoslavia football match, which was Albania's first official match. He earned 8 caps (plus one unofficial) wit ...

Bahri Kavaja Bahri Ahmet Kavaja (23 August 1924 – 19 August 1987) was an Albanian football player who played for Vllaznia Shkodër and Dinamo Tirana as well as the Albania national team. International career He made his debut for Albania in an October 194 ...

Hamdi Bakalli Hamdi Bakalli (1923–1991) was an Albanian footballer who played for Vllaznia Shkodër, Ylli I Kuq Shkodër, Partizani Tirana and Dinamo Tirana. He was also a member of the Albania national team between 1950 and 1953. Club career A native of ...

, and

Xhevdet Shaqiri Xhevdet Shaqiri (5 January 1923 – 11 September 1997) was an Albanian football player and coach. Playing career Club He played for Vllaznia Shkodër, Partizani Tirana and Dinamo Tirana during his playing career and won 9 league titles with the ...

Basketball

The first ever official

match in Albania was played on March 2, 1928 between the

and the "Malet Tona" campus. For the Technical School captain was Qazim Dervishi. The match was won from the boys of the

with the result of 32-14. In 1929 he is named headmaster in the "Malet Tona" campus in Shkodër. Even here along with the headmaster duties, Dervishi gave a primary importance to the sports practising. After a year of training, on June 27, 1930 was held the first basketball match in the city of Shkodër between the local team of the "Malet Tona" campus and the "Naim Frasheri" club from Tirana. The match was played in a regular size field and for the first time in Shkodër were put the baskets. Dervishi was the referee for this game, which ended in a tie. In the years 1933-1934, in the Perash elementary school where he was working (the only mixed school at that time) he started the women's basketball which became also popular.

Career as a referee

After 1939, Dervishi took another direction, that of a referee and of the director of the physical education. In this year he finishes a 3-months training to classify himself as a referee. On February 22, 1946 he presided the first ever international match between Albania and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. He also was the only Albanian

in the 1946

Balkan Games The Balkan Athletics Championships or Balkan Games () is a regional athletics competition held between nations from the Balkans and organized by Balkan Athletics. The first games were held in Athens in 1929, and the most recent were being held in ...

where the

Albania national football team The Albania national football team ( sq, Kombëtarja e futbollit të Shqipërisë) represents Albania in men's international football, and is governed by the Albanian Football Association, the governing body for football in Albania. Albania co ...

won the championship. He presided a match as the main referee (

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

, 2-1) and another one as a linesman (Albania-

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

, 1-0).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dervishi, Qazim 1908 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Shkodër Albanian footballers Association football wingers Albanian athletes Albanian football referees