The Toptani family was the leading Albanian noble family in central Ottoman Albania at the beginning of the 20th century. The Toptani family belonged to a small number of noble families appointed by the Ottomans who used local chieftains to control Ottoman Albania more easily. Essad Pasha Toptani, the head of the family at the beginning of the 20th century, claimed that the family descended from the

Thopia family The Thopia family was one of the most powerful Albanian feudal families in the Late Middle Ages. It was initially part of the nobility of the Angevin Kingdom of Albania. Early history The first attestation of the Thopia can be found in an Ange ...

. According to some sources, the name is derived from the word ''

top A spinning top, or simply a top, is a toy with a squat body and a sharp point at the bottom, designed to be spun on its vertical axis, balancing on the tip due to the gyroscopic effect. Once set in motion, a top will usually wobble for a few ...

,'' which means cannon, as the family owned a cannon at a time when artillery was rare.

Estates

The Toptani family initially lived in

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is only 20 km north from the capital of Albania, Tirana. Kruj ...

before moving to Tirana during the 17th century, when many sipahis moved from rural regions of the Ottoman Empire to cities. Their move from Krujë to Tirana probably contributed to the development of sharecropping in Albania. The Toptani family possessed around 50,000 hectares near Tirana and Durrës and remained one of the main landowners until the end of the Second World War. The 19th century house of the Toptani family situated in the center of Tirana was turned into a museum.

Notable members

Notable members of the family include: *

Abdi Toptani Abdi Toptani (28 August 1864 – 1 August 1942) was a 19th-century Albanian politician. He was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence along with his relative Murat. He served as Minister of Finances in the Provisional ...

Blendi Fevziu Blendi Fevziu (born May 18, 1969, Tirana, Albania) is an Albanian journalist, writer and host of the TV talk show ''Opinion'', which first went on air on August 31, 1997. Fevziu graduated in literature and Albanian language at the University of ...

* Essad Pasha Toptani *

Fuat Toptani Fuad Toptani was an Albanian politician and mayor of Tirana from 1925 through 1927. He was a delegate in the Albanian Congress of Trieste The Albanian Congress of Trieste ( sq, Kongresi Shqiptar i Triestës) was a congress of Albanians held in T ...

Gani Toptani Gani bej Toptani (185921 December 1898) was an Ottoman Albanian officer and adjutant of Sultan Abdülhamid II. After a short military career in Janina, he was exiled to Harpoot, but was soon called to Constantinople to serve under Sultan Abdülha ...

Murad Toptani Murad bej Toptani (13 July 1867 – 11 February 1918) was an Albanian poet, artist and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. Along with his relative Abdi Toptani he became one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independ ...

Sadije Toptani Sadije Toptani (Tirana, 28 August 1876 – Durrës, 25 November 1934) was queen mother of Albania from September 1928 until her death. She was the mother of Zog I of Albania. Biography Sadije (also Sadijé, Sadiya or Khadija) was a member of the ...

, Queen Mother of the Albanians

References

External links

Toptani family website
{{Albanian noble families People from Tirana Families from the Ottoman Empire