Mehdi bey Frashëri (28 February 1872 – 25 May 1963) was an Albanian intellectual and politician. He served as

Prime Minister of Albania The Prime Minister of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Shqipërisë), officially styled Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania ( sq, Kryeministri i Republikës së Shqipërisë), is the head of government of the Republic of Albania and the mo ...

in the 1930s and as Chairman of the Provisional Administration Committee in the Albanian puppet government under

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Biography

Early life

Mehdi Frashëri was born on 28 February 1872 in Frashër, Janina Vilayet, then

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 ...

. His father was Ragip bey

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retaine ...

Metsovo Metsovo ( el, Μέτσοβο; rup, Aminciu) is a town in Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east. The largest centre of Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large re ...

. Frashëri studied in Konica and Monastir and graduated from the

Mekteb-i Mülkiye The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara ( tr, Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilgiler Fakültesi, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest faculty of social science in Turkey, being the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ( ...

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

in 1897. While in Istanbul, in 1901, he was charged with establishing a small press in a local house cellar for printing Albanian nationalistic materials together with a small group of Albanians.

Early political career and interwar period

Frashëri served as

Kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by many other romanizations, was a title used by various officials of the Ottoman Empire, including acting grand viziers, governors of provincial sanjaks, and administrators of district kazas. The title has been retaine ...

of Peqin in central Albania between 1901 and 1903. After that he moved to

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

, where he joined the Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania. He was denounced by a group of local Muslims as an Albanian nationalist and a pro- Young Turk. He was governor of the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem under the Ottomans, mayor of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the second most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is located on a flat plain along the Albanian Adriatic Sea Coast between the mouths of ...

under Prince Wied, minister in the Albanian government of 1918, and minister of the interior in 1920. On May 17, 1914, as a member of the

International Commission of Control The International Commission of Control ( sq, Komisioni Ndërkombëtar i Kontrollit të Kufinjve) was the commission established on October 15, 1913, on the basis of the decision by the six Great Powers made on July 29, 1913, according to the Lo ...

he signed the Protocol of Corfu. He participated in 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 ...

in December 1918. In 1923, he was also Albania's representative in the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

. During the 1930s he held significant posts, including that of the Prime Minister from 1935 to 1936. In the early 1930s he participated in the civil code reforms committees along with

Thoma Orologa Thoma Orologa (1888–1947) was an Albanian jurist, politician and a leader of the anti-communist resistance in Albania during World War II. Life Born in 1888 in Korçë, in the Manastir Vilayet of the Ottoman Empire (present-day southern A ...

and

Hasan Dosti Hasan Dosti (1895January 29, 1991) was an Albanian jurist and politician. Being a staunch Albanian nationalist, Dosti was considered by the Albanian communists to be one of their greatest enemies. Biography Early life Hasan Dosti was born in ...

Italian occupation

Frashëri was against

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in ...

and disliked his policy of invading Albania. Frasheri took it upon himself to broadcast scathing attacks against the invasion as well as addressing a remonstrance to Mussolini. Following the departure of the government of

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 ...

, he urged young men with revolvers to distribute themselves to preserve order. When the invading troops were at the gates he sought asylum in the Turkish Legation, continuing to refuse to sign a declaration in support of the Italians. His personal courage impressed even the German minister, who successfully appealed to Rome to allow Frashëri to return home. Despite Italian guarantees, Frashëri was soon arrested and interned in Italy. Frashëri participated as "Honorary Chairman" of the

Conference of Pezë The National Liberation Movement ( sq, Lëvizja Nacional-Çlirimtare; or ''Lëvizja Antifashiste Nacional-Çlirimtare'' (LANÇ)), also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World ...

, where Albanian anti-fascist factors gathered in 1942, a fact that would be suppressed by the communist regime later. Frashëri, who had sympathy for the Germans partly because he had studied in Austria, worked with German minister , in the hopes of establishing closer relations and to gain some protection for the Albanians from the Italians.

German occupation

After the capitulation of Italy,

took control of the Balkans. The Germans were apprised of his significance and began to search for him immediately after the invasion. Frasheri was found and agreed, on 16 September, to return to

for talks with Hermann Neubacher, Major and . After the end of the meeting, it was agreed that Albania would have its own sovereignty under Nazi Germany, similar to the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...

. Frashëri agreed to serve as regent as well as head the council. The leadership of the council was originally designed to rotate, but

Lef Nosi Lef Nosi (born Elefter Nosi; 9 April 187720 February 1946) was an Albanian publisher, archivist, philologist, folklorist, ethnographer, numismatist, archaeologist and politician. On 28 November 1912, he was as one of the signatories of the Decla ...

declined for health reasons, and

Anton Harapi Anton Harapi (5 January 1888 – 20 February 1946) was an Albanian Franciscan friar, educator, lecturer, publicist, and political figure during World War II. In the first years of the communist regime in Albania, he was executed due to collabor ...

argued that as a Catholic monk, he could accept no position in which he would be forced to sanction the death penalty.

After World War II

When the Partisans declared victory in Albania, the Germans evacuated, taking Mehdi Frashëri with them. Frashëri moved to Vienna and eventually settled in Rome, where he lived until his death.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frasheri, Mehdi Frasheri, Bej, Mehdi Albanian Sufis 1872 births 1963 deaths Albanian collaborators with Nazi Germany Albanian nobility Albanian anti-communists 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians People from Janina vilayet Interior ministers of Albania Foreign ministers of Albania Bektashi Order Mekteb-i Mülkiye alumni Mehdi Government of Durrës People from Gjirokastër County