Nikollë Bojaxhiu ( – 1919), also known as Nikola Bojaxhiu was an Ottoman

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 ...

businessman, benefactor, politician and the father of the Roman Catholic nun and missionary

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu (born Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu, ; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa or Saint Mother Teresa, was an Albanian-Indian Catholic Church, Roman Catholic nun, founder of the Missionaries of ...

. His company constructed the first theatre of

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

and participated in the development of the railway line that connected

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

with Skopje—a project he personally financed. An active Albanian rights activist, he was also the only

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

to be elected to the city council of Skopje. Bojaxhiu died in 1919 in obscure circumstances, which led to reports that attributed his death to poisoning by Serbian agents. His children included Lazar, and Anjezë Bojaxhiu (

Life

Nikollë was born into a Kosovar Albanian family in 1874 in

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

. His parents were Lazar and Çilja Bojaxhiu. Bojaxhiu moved to Skopje in the Kosovo Vilayet (present-day

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

) after 1900, where he first worked as a pharmacist and later became a partner in a construction company. He was a polyglot; as well as Albanian he also spoke French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croat and Turkish. In the early 1900s, he married Dranafile Bernai with whom he had three children: Aga (b. 1905), Lazar (b. 1908), and Agnes (b. 1910), with the latter becoming later better known as

. Nikollë Bojaxhiu's company constructed the city's first theater and part of the railway line that connected Skopje with the region of Kosovo. He was also the owner of a wholesale food company and the only Roman Catholic member of the city council of Skopje. On the day of the

Albanian Declaration of Independence The Albanian Declaration of Independence (Albanian language, 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 da ...

(November 28, 1912) he hosted a meeting that was attended by

Bajram Curri Bajram Curri (16 January 1862 – 29 March 1925) was an Albanian chieftain, politician and activist who struggled for the independence of Albania, later struggling for Kosovo's incorporation into it following the 1913 Treaty of London. He w ...

and

Hasan Prishtina Hasan bey Prishtina, (born Hasan Berisha; 27 September 1873 – 13 August 1933), was an Ottoman, later Albanian, politician who served as the 8th prime minister of Albania in December 1921. Biography Family and early life In his memoirs, Pris ...

among others. After the region's incorporation into Serbia, Bojaxhiu joined various Albanian rights political organizations. He died in 1919, a few hours after he returned from a political meeting in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. Several biographers have attributed his death to poisoning by Serbian agents. The location, purpose, and participants of the meeting remain unknown. His son Lazar considered the theory of poisoning to be a certainty, while his daughter Agnes described it as unconfirmed. His funeral process was attended by large numbers of people and representative of all the religious communities. As a sign of respect, that day all school children were given dedicatory handkerchiefs and jewellers' shops remained closed. After his death, his partner appropriated the entirety of their companies' assets and left nothing to his widow and offspring. Mother Teresa had once said: “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the heart of Jesus.”

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bojaxhi, Nikolle 1874 births 1919 deaths Kosovo Albanians Albanian Roman Catholics Kosovan Roman Catholics Albanian businesspeople 20th-century Albanian politicians People from Prizren Mother Teresa Politicians from Prizren Kosovan politicians