Mehdi

bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

Frashëri (28 February 1872 – 25 May 1963) was an

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 ...

intellectual and politician. He served as Prime Minister of Albania in the 1930s and as Chairman of the Provisional Administration Committee in the

puppet government under

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

Biography

Early life

Mehdi Frashëri was born on 28 February 1872 in

Frashër Frashër (; sq-definite, Frashëri) is a village and a former municipality in the Gjirokastër County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Përmet. The population at the 2011 census wa ...

Janina Vilayet The Vilayet of Janina, Yanya or Ioannina () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, established in 1867. In the late 19th century, it reportedly had an area of .

, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. His father was Ragip bey

kaymakam Kaymakam, also known by #Names, 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 reta ...

Metsovo Metsovo (; ) is a town in Epirus (region), Epirus, in the mountains of Pindus in northern Greece, between Ioannina to the west and Meteora to the east. The largest centre of Aromanians, Aromanian (Vlach) life in Greece, Metsovo is a large regio ...

. Frashëri studied in Konica and Monastir and graduated from the

Mekteb-i Mülkiye The Faculty of Political Science of the University of Ankara (, more simply known as "''SBF''") is the oldest institution of administrative sciences in Turkey. It is the successor of the "Mekteb-i Mülkiye" ('), also known simply as "Mülkiye," wh ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

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 #Names, 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 reta ...

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, Pe ...

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

Ohrid Ohrid ( ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording a population of over 42,000 inhabitants as of ...

, where he joined the

Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania The Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania () was a secret committee founded in Manastir (modern day Bitola) by Bajo Topulli and other Albanian nationalists in November 1905 to fight for the secession of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. This ...

. He was denounced by a group of local Muslims as an Albanian nationalist and a pro-

Young Turk The Young Turks (, also ''Genç Türkler'') formed as a constitutionalist broad opposition-movement in the late Ottoman Empire against the absolutist régime of Sultan Abdul Hamid II (). The most powerful organization of the movement, a ...

. He was governor of the

Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (, ; , , ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872.Büssow (2011), p5Abu-Manneh (1999), p39Jankowski & Gershoni (1997), p174 T ...

under the Ottomans, mayor of

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

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 () 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 London Treaty signed on May 30, 1913. Its goal was to take ...

he signed the

Protocol of Corfu The Protocol of Corfu (, ), signed on 17 May 1914, was an agreement between the representatives of the Albanian Government and the Provisional Government of Northern Epirus, which officially recognized the area of Northern Epirus as an autonom ...

. 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 ...

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

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) 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 (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. 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 – 30 November 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 ...

and

Hasan Dosti Hasan Dosti (1895January 29, 1991) was an Albanian jurist and politician. He was the leader of the Balli Kombëtar after the war and was considered by the communists to be one of Albania's greatest enemies. Biography Early life Hasan Dosti was ...

Italian occupation

Frashëri was against

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

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 ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, 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 (; or ''Lëvizja Antifashiste Nacional-Çlirimtare'' (LANÇ)), also translated as National Liberation Front, was an Albanian communist resistance organization that fought in World War II. It was created on 16 Septe ...

, where Albanian anti-fascist factors gathered in 1942, a fact that would be suppressed by the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

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 Hermann Neubacher (24 June 1893 – 1 July 1960) was an Austrian Nazi politician who held a number of diplomatic posts in the Third Reich. During the Second World War, he was appointed as the leading German foreign ministry official for Greece and ...

, 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 (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

. 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 collaborat ...

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 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 Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire Albanian expatriates in Italy Albanian exiles