Mufid

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 ...

Libohova (1876 in

Libohovë Libohovë ( sq-definite, Libohova) is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. It is overlooked by Libohovë Castle and has a main street with views across the Drino valley. Libohovë is at the foot of the Mount Bureto, Bureto Mountain. The r ...

– 1927 in

Sarandë Sarandë (; sq-definite, Saranda; ) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Sarandë Municipality. Geographically, the city is located on an open sea gulf of the Ionian Sea within the Mediterrane ...

) was an Albanian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and one of the delegates at the Assembly of Vlorë (28 November 1912) where 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 ...

took place. He served as the first Minister of Interior of Albania, during the

Provisional Government of Albania The Provisional Government of Albania (), also called the Qemali Government, was the first government of Albania, created by the Assembly of Vlorë on 4 December 1912. It was a paternal government, led by Ismail Qemali, until his resignation o ...

. He held different government positions on nine occasions between 1913–1927, holding the positions of Justice Minister, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finances, and Minister of Culture.

Life

Mufid Libohova, son of Ali Naki Bey (1842-1904), and the grandson of Maliq Naili Pasha Bey (1810-1892), two Albanian notables from Libohova. Mufid was of was scion of a wealthy landowning family. His mother was Behixhe Hamza, a Circassian from

Tuapse Tuapse (; , Ṫuapsă ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of a resort zone which extends sou ...

. She was the sister of the third wife of

Mehmet Ali Vrioni Mehmet Ali Vrioni was an Albanian politician and the vice president of the League of Prizren. Life Mehmet Ali Bey was from the famous landowning bey family of Berat named Vrioni. In 1877 he became one of the founders of the Central Comm ...

. In 1898, Mufid was appointed in the Ottoman Embassy in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, where he became ''

Chargé d'affaires A (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador. The term is Frenc ...

''. He served initially in the Ottoman administration and represented

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 ...

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 ...

, Sanjak of Delvina as a deputy in the 1908 parliament of the

Young Turks 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, ...

. As an Ottoman parliamentarian Libohova was outspoken on Albanian issues and an example of this was a verbal exchange triggered when he mentioned the word ''Arnavutlar'' (Albanians). The Ottoman speaker Ahmed Riza responded "There are no Albanians; there are only Ottomans" to which Libohova replied that "Yes sir, there are Albanians". During his time in Ottoman politics, Libohova was a close ally of fellow Albanian parliamentarian

Ismail Qemali Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Kemal, (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Independent Albania, Albania. He served as the first Prime Minister of Albania, prime minister o ...

. Like some educated Albanians with nationalist sentiments of the time, Libohova supported the unity of Albanians from different religions under the banner of

Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanians, Albanian Albanian nobility, feudal lord and military commander who led Skanderbeg's rebellion, a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, ...

and was in favour of government reforms that benefited Albanians. At the eve of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he was member of the International Control Commission that governed

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 ...

from 22 January – 7 March 1914. Mufid Bey (also written Myfit Bey) was among the chief promoters of the Congress of Durrës that led, on 25 December 1918, to the creation of a new provisional government headed by former Prime Minister Turhan Pasha. Mufid Bey took over the ministry of the interior and justice, and later became minister of foreign affairs. In April 1919 he left Albania to take part the Paris Peace Conference and to attend to Albanian interests there. In August 1919, on his return from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, he stopped over in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. During negotiations with the

Italian government The government of Italy is that of a democratic republic, established by the Italian constitution in 1948. It consists of Legislature, legislative, Executive (government), executive, and Judiciary, judicial subdivisions, as well as of a head of ...

, he secured Italian recognition for Albanian independence and a promise that the Italian occupation of Vlora would be temporary. It is this turbulent period of Albanian history that Mufid Bey Libohova describes in his memoirs, ''Politika ime ndë Shqiperi, 1916-1920'' ("My Policies in Albania, 1916–1920"). Libohova would be an opponent of the Congress of Lushnje event of 1920, as part of the old-case government of Durrës together with Mustafa Merlika-Kruja,

Fejzi Alizoti Fejzi Bey Alizoti (22 September 1874, Gjirokastër – 14 April 1945, Tirana) was an Albanian politician who served as the chairman of the central administration of Albania from January 1916 to October 1918. He was the first interim prime minister ...

, and Sami Vrioni. According to Sejfi Vllamasi's (1883–1975) memories they would try to prohibit the delegates from reaching Lushnje, sometimes convincing them not to and sometimes forcefully preventing them. The opposition would culminate with the assassination of the Prefect of Durrës (and delegate to Lushnjë) Abdyl Ypi (1876-1920) by Sul Mërlika, himself cousin of Mustafa Mërlika-Kruja. In addition, he was an Albanian government member on nine occasions from 1912 until his death in 1927, holding the positions of Justice Minister, Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Foreign Affairs. A strong pro- Zog supporter, he returned to Albania from exile in

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with his followers and financial support by the

Greek government The Government of Greece (Greek language, Greek: Κυβέρνηση της Ελλάδας), officially the Government of the Hellenic Republic (Κυβέρνηση της Ελληνικής Δημοκρατίας) is the collective body of the Gre ...

, and helped overthrow the government of

Fan Noli Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian Americans, Albanian-American writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, bishop, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albania ...

a few months after the June Revolution. Libohova is considered the father of the

Albanian Lek The lek (; indefinite singular ''lek'', definite plural ''lekët'', indefinite plural ''lekë''; Currency symbol, sign: L; ISO 4217, code: ALL) is the currency of Albania. Historically, it was subdivided into 100 ''qintars'' (; singular ''qinda ...

, since he proposed the name and was the minister of Finance when the Lek was put into force. Libohova has been also member of International Control Commission, which was a provisional institution since the resignation of Ismail Qemali until the coronation of William, Prince of Albania, and the first ambassador of

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

.
Mufid Libohova was born in July 1876, Libohova,

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 died on 10 February 1927 in

.Mufid Libohova, nga Ali pashë Tepelena te Enver Hoxha (in Albanian)
/ref> His first wife (married in 1898) was Sheref Hanëm Giritli Zade, a Turkish woman. His second wife Olga, of Danish origin, remained in Albania after his death. Libohova had two sons, Malik bey from the first marriage and Elmaz bey from the second one.Myfid bej Libohova, diplomati "turk" që krijoi Lek-un (in Albanian), October 13 2014
/ref>

References

Literature

* "History of Albanian People" Albanian Academy of Science. * O.S. Pearson
''Albania and King Zog''
I.B. Tauris. 2005 (). {{DEFAULTSORT:Libohova, Mufid bej Foreign ministers of Albania Ambassadors of Albania to Italy 1876 births People from Libohovë People from Janina vilayet 1927 deaths Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire Politicians from the Ottoman Empire 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Government ministers of Albania Finance ministers of Albania Justice ministers of Albania Albanian economists All-Albanian Congress delegates Government of Durrës Congress of Durrës delegates Expatriates from the Ottoman Empire Expatriates in Belgium

Life

See also

References

Literature