Xhemal Aranitasi (aka Xhemal Araniti; 1886 in

Aranitas Aranitas is a village and a former Municipalities of Albania, municipality in Fier County, Albania. During the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality of Mallakastër. The population at the 2011 census was 2,714. Th ...

Mallakastër District Mallakastër District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 newly created counties. It had a population of 39,881 in 2001, and an area of . It is in the south of the country, and its capita ...

, Fier County,

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) ...

, modern

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 ...

, then — 1961 in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

) was a

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

and commander in chief of the Royal Albanian Army. He was the son of Ibrahim Aranitasi, an army colonel of the

and Esma Jahobegaj. He graduated from the

Monastir Military High School The Monastir Military High School (''Manastır Askerî İdadisi''), established in 1847, was one of the three-year educational military high schools of the Ottoman Empire. It was located in Monastir (present day Bitola, North Macedonia). The build ...

(now in modern

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

), and then at the military academy 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, ...

. During the Balkan wars he fought in the Ottoman army, as the leader of a machine gun unit. During

World War I 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 ...

, when most of the territory of Albania was invaded by the Austro-Hungarian Army, he served in the

municipality as a commander of the gendarmerie. In 1920 he joined the Royal Albanian Army and four years later he was a battalion commander. In 1925, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, he became the general commander of the Royal Albanian Army. Although major decisions on the Army were taken by officers of foreign origin, such as

Gustav von Myrdacz Gustav von Myrdacz (12 July 1874 – died 11 July 1945) was an Austrian noble who was instrumental in organizing the Royal Albanian Army from the early 1920s to 1945. He was referred to in Albania as Gustav Mirdashi. Early life and training G ...

and Leon Ghilardi, Aranitasi was the only native Albanian nominally on the staff. In 1929 he was promoted to general. He served as aide-de-camp of Zog I of Albania before this task was taken by

Mehmet Konica Mehmed Konica (1881 – 1948), was an Albanian politician. He served three times as the List of Foreign Ministers of Albania, Foreign Minister of Albania. He was the brother of Albanian writer Faik Konica. Konica was born in Konitsa, today's Gre ...

. In 1939, as minister of war, in the face of war with the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...

, Xhemal Aranitasi forbade the press publication of popular mobilization and also prohibited the issuing of weapons to the civilian population. On April 6, 1939, on the eve of the invasion of Albania by the

Royal Italian Army The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

, Aranitasi left the country and settled in Turkey, where he lived until the end of his life. He was awarded the Grand Ribbon of the

Order of Skanderbeg Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...

.Stephen Taylor, ed.: Who's Who in Central and East Europe 1933/1934 . Zurich: 1935.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aranitasi, Xhemal 1886 births 1961 deaths 19th-century Albanian people 20th-century Albanian military personnel Albanian generals Monastir Military High School alumni Ottoman Military Academy alumni Ottoman military personnel of the Balkan Wars People from Janina vilayet People from Mallakastër Recipients of the Order of Skanderbeg (1925–45) Royal Albanian Army

See also

Sources