Dervish Biçaku (1874–1952) 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 ...

landowner, and one of the delegates of

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 ...

."History of Albanian People" Albanian Academy of Science. He was born in

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

, today's

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 ...

in a landowners family, with around 2100

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s of land in Elbasan and Lushnje areas. His father was Jusuf Bey Biçaku, and his mother was Hedije Zogolli, aunt of Ahmet Zogolli, known as the future Albanian

King Zog I Zog I (born Ahmed Muhtar Zogolli; 8 October 18959 April 1961) was the leader of Albania from 1922 to 1939. At age 27, he first served as Albania's youngest ever Prime Minister (1922–1924), then as president (1925–1928), and finally as King ...

. He finished high school in

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 ...

. He was one of the organizers of the

Congress of Elbasan The Congress of Elbasan (), also known among Albanians as the Congress of the Albanian schools (''Kongresi i shkollave shqipe''), was held from 2 to 8 September 1909 in Elbasan, today's Albania, back then part of the Vilayet of Monastir of the Ott ...

in 1909, one of the sponsors, and was elected its chairman. Dervish Bey Biçaku was one of the financiers of the Normal School of Elbasan. In 1912, he was a delegate of

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 the

Assembly of Vlorë The Assembly of Vlorë () was an Albanian assembly constituted during the All-Albanian Congress in Vlorë, on November 28, 1912. Background The All-Albanian Congress or ''Albanian National Congress'' or ''Albanian Independence Congress'' w ...

, which declared the independence of the four Albanian

vilayets A vilayet (, "province"), also known by #Names, various other names, was a first-order administrative division of the later Ottoman Empire. It was introduced in the Vilayet Law of 21 January 1867, part of the Tanzimat reform movement initiated b ...

from 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 ...

. He was appointed by the future prime-minister Ismail Kemal as future

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, but unexpectedly he expressed disagreement with Kemal's line of government and jumped to Essad Toptanii's side. At the end of

WWII 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 ...

, right before the

LANC LANC (Logic Application Control Bus System or Local Application Control Bus System), also known as Control-L is a hardware and software communication protocol invented by Sony that synchronizes cameras. The LANC terminal on Sony and other manufact ...

forces took control in Albania, he settled in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, where he died in 1952.

References

20th-century Albanian politicians All-Albanian Congress delegates 1874 births 1952 deaths People from Elbasan People from Manastir vilayet Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Albanian philanthropists

Dervish Dervish, Darvesh, or Darwīsh (from ) in Islam can refer broadly to members of a Sufi fraternity (''tariqah''), or more narrowly to a religious mendicant, who chose or accepted material poverty. The latter usage is found particularly in Persi ...

Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire {{Albania-politician-stub Albanian emigrants Immigrants to Lebanon