Aleksandër Merxhani mostly known as Branko Merxhani (1894–1981) 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, sociologist, writer, journalist and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

. He was one of the most important cultural figures of the pre-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in Albania, publisher of ''

Përpjekja shqiptare ''Përpjekja'' (meaning ''Endeavor'' in English) is an Albanian language quarterly culture and literary magazine published in Tirana, Albania. History and profile ''Përpjekja'' was first published in 1994. Its founder is Fatos Lubonja. He is a ...

''. During the '30s he developed an ideological program named ''Neo-Albanianism'' (), which he developed being heavily influenced by

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

sociologist

Ziya Gökalp Mehmet Ziya Gökalp (born Mehmed Ziya, 23 March 1876 – 25 October 1924) was a Turkish sociologist, writer, poet, and politician. After the 1908 Young Turk Revolution that reinstated constitutionalism in the Ottoman Empire, he adopted the pen ...

Life

Originating from

Sopik Sopik () is a settlement in Gjirokastër County, southeastern Albania. It is part of the former Communes of Albania, commune of Pogon, Albania, Pogon. After the 2015 local government reform, it became part of the municipality of Dropull. A second ...

Pogon Pogon may refer to: * Pogon, Albania, a municipality in Gjirokastër District, Gjirokastër County, Albania * Pogoń, a Knight-in-pursuit coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Pogoni, a municipality in Ioannina regional unit, Greece * P ...

kaza A kaza (, "judgment" or "jurisdiction") was an administrative divisions of the Ottoman Empire, administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. It is also discussed in English under the names district, subdistrict, and juridical district. Kazas co ...

, his father was a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in Nish, where he married with a local and Branko was born there. It is thought that his mother or his governess was German. After the Ottoman authorities relocated his father, he followed the German lyceum in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

, studied philosophy in the

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 ...

and followed his studies in Austria. After the triumph of Atatürk, he returned and worked as a journalist in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

's press. Afterwards he returned in

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

for property issues in his village of origin. He settled in

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in Southern Albania, southern Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë moun ...

, where he worked with the ''Demokratia'' magazine published by Jorgji Meksi, and along with

Vangjel Koça Vangjel Koça (1900–1943) journalist, an Albanian ideologue of fascism, translator, publisher in the interwar period, better known with his nom de plume Vangjo Nirvana. Along with Ismet Toto, Branko Merxhani, Nebil Çika etc., he was one of t ...

, it was through its pages that he first presented his ideological program, known as ''Neo-shqiptarisma''. At 1930 he went to Tirana where he started publishing a magazine named after his ideological program, ''Neo-shqiptarisma'', but it lasted for only one issue. He started writing articles for ''Illyria'' magazine run by

Karl Gurakuqi Karl Gurakuqi (24 March 1895 – 6 December 1971) was an Albanians, Albanian linguist and folklorist. Life Born in Shkodër in 1895 he first studied in the Shkodër Jesuit College, Jesuit Saverian College of Shkodër and later Salzburg. In the ...

; their collaboration went on from March 1934 until 1936. From December 1935 he collaborated with the ''New Time'' () along with Suat Asllani,

Petro Marko Petro Marko (November 25, 1913 – December 27, 1991) was an Albanian writer. His best-known novel is titled '' Hasta La Vista'' and recounts his experiences as a volunteer of the Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War. Petro Marko is ...

, Koça and

Tajar Zavalani Tajar Zavalani known later in his life as Thomas-Henry Zavalani (August 15, 1903 – August 19, 1966) was an Albanian historian, publicist, and writer. Life Zavalani was born on 15 August 1903 in Monastir, Ottoman Empire, today's Bitola in N ...

; but after 13 issues the journal stopped being published. In October 1936 he started to publish ''The Albanian Endeavour'' ().

Life

References

Further reading