Eshref Effendy Frasheri (October 15, 1874 – October 17, 1938), also referred to as Eshtref Bey Frashëri, was an

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 ...

n politician. He served as co-

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the National Council of Albania from 1921 until 1923 and Deputy Chairman 1932-1938.

Life

Born in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

, in southern Albania, he studied Construction Engineering 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 ...

and in 1914 became member of the Albanian patriotic club there. Frashëri became member of the

Committee for the National Defence of Kosovo A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly or other form of organization. A committee may not itself be considered to be a form of assembly or a decision-making body. Usually, an assembly o ...

. The Committee of Kosovo sent its delegates to the Congress of Lushnje of 1920. Frashëri together with Hysni Curri (who could not make it) and Xhemal Prishtina were elected to represent the Committee, the Prefecture of Kosovo ( Has-

Tropojë Tropojë (; sq-definite, Tropoja) is a municipality in Kukës County, northeastern Albania, within the historical ethnographic region of the Gjakova Highlands. The municipality consists of the administrative units of Bajram Curri, Bujan, By ...

- Luma), and the Irredentist Kosovo. Frashëri had been one of the initiators of the call for the national congress since early January 1920. He also served as one of the directors during the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, and was one of the political figures that dominated it together with Aqif Pasha Elbasani and

Ahmet Zogu 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 ...

. Frashëri was elected Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Public Works of the government that came out of it. In May 1920, he was sent by the Government of Tirana in a mission to Korçë, to assure that the French army there would hand the city over to the Albanian government rather than the Greek armies located nearby the border. Frashëri organized a big meeting in the town, proclaimed the unification of the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korçë with the rest of Albania and started gathering volunteers from areas around the town to prepare a militia, in case the Greeks would try to capture the town. The Protocol of Kapshtica that followed left Korçë definitely on the Albanian side. During the period 1921-1934, Frasheri was member of

's "People's Party" ().
Frashëri was also elected member of Albanian Senate during 1925-1928. On 2 March 1925 he became senator and head of the senate, thus vice-president of the republic. On April 5 of the same year he was placed in the center of a plot in Korçë for overthrowing Zog, but still managed to stay in good relations with him. Another plot was discovered on 23 September 1925, this time organized by Zog's brother in law Ceno Beg Kryeziu. This time he was obliged to resign from his posts, but still remained in good relations with Zog, who sent him to

Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...

to put down political opposition. In 1938, he was elected member of the management board of ''SITA'', an Italian-Albanian electrical company, but died soon after.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frasheri, Eshref Speakers of the Parliament of Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania Politicians from Korçë 1938 deaths 1874 births Government ministers of Albania Deputy prime ministers of Albania Public works ministers of Albania People from Manastir vilayet Albanian monarchists Eshref