Sami Bey Vrioni (1876–1947) was an Albanian politician,

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

, and a delegate at 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 ...

which declared 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 ...

. He was a respected and powerful landowner in the

Fier Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri) is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjos ...

region of

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 ...

Biography

Sami Vrioni was a member of the prominent landowning Vrioni family of

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 ...

and

Myzeqe The Myzeqe (; sq-definite, Myzeqeja; rup, Muzachia) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. Location The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by t ...

. His father was

Omar Pasha Vrioni II Omer Pasha Vrioni II (1839–1928), also referred as Ymer or Omar, was an Albanian ruler from one of the most powerful Albanian families of the 19th century. He founded the city of Fier. Biography Omer Pasha was a member of the Vrioni landownin ...

(1839–1928). Sami Vrioni himself was owner of around 5,000

Hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s in the agricultural region of southern

. He was one of the delegates of the

in 1912, representing

region. According to some sources,

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 perso ...

wanted him as part of his cabinet, but his father Omer Pasha was skeptical regarding the Qemali's government. Having served as parliamentary Deputy for Berat in 1912, under

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 ...

he served as a seneschal (Court Chamberlain). He was part of the Albanian delegation in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

of April 1917 representing the districts of

Skrapar Skrapar ( sq-definite, Skrapari) is a municipality in Berat County, southern Albania. It was created in 2015 by the merger of the former municipalities Bogovë, Çepan, Çorovodë, Gjerbës, Leshnjë, Potom, Qendër Skrapar, Vendreshë and Zhepë ...

and

. Sami Vrioni had graduated as agronomist and engineer. He spoke Turkish, Arabic, Italian, and French. He was a participant of the

Congress of Durrës The Congress of Durrës () was a conference of Albanian political leaders, held from December 25 to December 27, 1918, in Durrës, at the time capital of the Principality of Albania. Mehmet Konica was the Chairman of the Congress, which aimed a ...

and was elected Minister of Agriculture of the provisional government that came out of it, switching to Minister of Public Works in 1919–1920. According to

Sejfi Vllamasi Sejfi Vllamasi (1883–1975) was an Albanian congressman and well-known politician during the first half of the 20th century. He was born in the village of Novoselë, in Kolonjë, Albania (at the time part of the Ottoman Empire). Vllamasi studied ...

's (1883–1975) memories, Vrioni together with

Mustafa Kruja Mustafa Merlika-Kruja (March 15, 1887, Akçahisar, Ottoman Empire (modern-day Krujë, Albania) – December 27, 1958, Niagara Falls, New York) was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence. He served as Prime Minister ...

Fejzi Alizoti Fejzi Alizoti (22 September 1874, Gjirokastër – 14 April 1945, Tirana), also referred to as Feyzi Bey Alizoti, was an Ottoman and later Albanian politician who served as the Chairman of the Central Administration of Albania from January 1916 to ...

, and

Myfid Libohova Mufid Bey Libohova (1876 in Libohovë – 1927 in Sarandë) was an Albanian economist, diplomat and politician and one of the delegates at the Assembly of Vlorë (28 November 1912) where the Albanian Declaration of Independence took place. He ...

joined the camp of the pro-Italian opponents of the

Congress of Lushnjë The Congress of Lushnjë (), historically documented by the name ''Mbledhja Kombiare Lushnje'', was a conference of Albanian political leaders held from January 28 to January 31, 1920 in Lushnjë, Albania. Its objective was to deal with the issue ...

, with the three others actively trying to persuade or force the delegates not to join the Lushnjë event. Served as Assemblyman (1924–1925, 1928–1932) and Senator (1925–1928) of the Albanian parliament. Regardless of the fact that he descended from a landowning feudal cast, Sami Vrioni had credibility between the

Noli Noli (; lij, Nöi ) is a coast ''comune'' of Liguria, Italy, in the Province of Savona, it is about southwest of Genoa by rail, about above sea-level. The origin of the name may come from ''Neapolis'', meaning "new city" in Greek. From 1192 ...

st opposition of early 20s. In February 1924, the opposition was hoping on bringing him up as Prime Minister, which was disregarded by the most powerful group of

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 ...

, who elected

Shefqet Vërlaci Shefqet bey Vërlaci (; 15 December 1877, Elbasan, Manastir Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – 21 July 1946, Zürich, Switzerland), also known as Shevket Verlaci, was an Albanian politician and wealthy landowner. Biography In 1922, Vërlaci was the b ...

instead of him. Vrioni was arrested by the communist dictatorship that took power in 1944, he died under torture in 1947 or 1952. Sami Vrioni was married to the daughter of

Essad Pasha Toptani Essad Pasha Toptani or Esad Pasha Toptani ( sq, Esad Pashë Toptani; 1863/4 or 1875 – 13 June 1920), mainly known as Essad Pasha, was an Ottoman army officer who served as the Albanian deputy in the Ottoman Parliament. He was a prominent po ...

Political Activity

* Delegate of the

event in 1912 * Court Chamberlain of

Prince of Albania This article includes a list of Albanian monarchs. Albania was first established by the Progon family in 1190, with Progon, Lord of Kruja as the nation's first monarch. Princes of Arbanon (1190–1256) House of Progon * Progon (1190–1198) *Gj ...

, 1914 * Minister of Agriculture of Albania: December 1918 – 1919 * Minister of Public Works of Albania: 1919 – January 1920 * Assemblyman (1924–1925, 1928–1932) * Member of Albanian Senate (1925–1928)

References

;Citations ;Source * * * * * *

Biography

Political Activity

References

See also