Pashko Vasa
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Pashko Vasa (17 September 1825 – 29 June 1892), known as Vaso Pasha or Wassa Pasha (, ), 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 ...
writer, poet and publicist of the
Albanian National Awakening The Albanian National Awakening ( or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political, and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian ...
, and Ottoman mutasarrif of
Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate The Mount Lebanon Mutasarrifate (1861–1918, ; ) was one of the Ottoman Empire's subdivisions following the 19th-century Tanzimat reform. After 1861, there existed an autonomous Mount Lebanon with a Christian Mutasarrif (governor), which had be ...
from 1882 until his death.


Biography

Vaso Pasha was born in
Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...
on September 17, 1825. He was a Catholic Albanian who held high positions within the Ottoman Empire.


Secretary in the British Consulate

From 1842 to 1847 he worked as a secretary for the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
consulate in
Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...
. He there had the opportunity to perfect his knowledge of a number of foreign languages:
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 ...
, French, Turkish and
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
. He also knew some English and Serbian, and in later years learned
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
.


1847-1848: The Italian Year

In 1847, he set off for Italy on the eve of turbulent events that were to take place there and elsewhere in Europe in 1848. There are two letters written by him in
Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...
in the summer of 1848 in which he expresses openly republican and anti-clerical views. He later went to
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
where he took part in fighting in Marghera in October 1848, part of a Venetian uprising against the Austrians. After the arrival of Austrian troops, Pashko Vasa was obliged to flee to
Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...
where, as an Ottoman citizen, he was expelled to
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 published an account of his experience in Italy the following year in Italian-language ''La mia prigionia, episodio storico dell'assedio di Venezia'', Istanbul 1850 (My imprisonment, historical episode from the siege of Venice).


1848-1863: In Istanbul

In Istanbul, after an initial period of poverty and hardship, he obtained a position at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whence he was seconded to London for a time, to the Imperial Ottoman Embassy to the Court of St. James's. He later served the
Sublime Porte The Sublime Porte, also known as the Ottoman Porte or High Porte ( or ''Babıali''; ), was a synecdoche or metaphor used to refer collectively to the central government of the Ottoman Empire in Istanbul. It is particularly referred to the buildi ...
in various positions of authority as a bureaucrat.


1863-1864: In Bosnia-Herzegovina

In 1863, thanks to his knowledge of Serbian, he was appointed to serve as a secretary and interpreter to Ahmet Cevdet Pasha, Ottoman statesman and historian, on a fact-finding mission to
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...
which lasted for twenty months, from the spring of 1863 to October 1864. The events of this mission were recorded in his ''La Bosnie et l'Herzégovine pendant la mission de Djevdet Efendi'', Constantinople 1865 (Bosnia and Herzegovina during the mission of Jevdet Efendi). A few years later he published another now rare work of historical interest, ''Esquisse historique sur le Monténégro d'après les traditions de l'Albanie'', Constantinople 1872 (Historical sketch of Montenegro according to Albanian traditions).


Administrator of Edirne vilayet

In 1879, Pashko Vasa worked in
Varna Varna may refer to: Places Europe *Varna, Bulgaria, a city ** Varna Province ** Varna Municipality ** Gulf of Varna ** Lake Varna **Varna Necropolis * Vahrn, or Varna, a municipality in Italy * Varna (Šabac), a village in Serbia Asia * Var ...
on the
Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...
coast in the administration of the vilayet of Edirne with
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 ...
. He also acquired the title of
Pasha Pasha (; ; ) was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman political and military system, typically granted to governors, generals, dignitary, dignitaries, and others. ''Pasha'' was also one of the highest titles in the 20th-century Kingdom of ...
.


Importance to Albania


League of Prizren Organization

Despite his functions on behalf of the Porte, Pashko Vasa never forgot his Albanian homeland. In the autumn of 1877 he became a founding member of the Central Committee for the Defence of the Rights of the Albanian People in Istanbul which was a group of Albanian intelligentsia advocating for the territorial integrity and unity of Albanian inhabited areas in the Ottoman Empire. As a member of the Committee he met during mid-March with British ambassador Austen Henry Layard in Istanbul and urged that Albanian inhabited territories not be given to newly independent Slavic states. Through his contacts on the Committee, he also participated in the organization of the
League of Prizren The League of Prizren (), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation (), was an Albanian political organization that was officially founded on June 10, 1878 in the old town of Prizren in the Kosovo Vilayet of th ...
in 1878. He was probably the author of the Memorandum on Albanian Autonomy which had his signature alongside those of other Albanian notables and the document was submitted to the British Embassy in Constantinople. Vasa favoured the unification of Albanian-inhabited vilayets or provinces into a single vilayet of Albania within the Ottoman empire and having a "compact and strong organisation" with Albanian participation in its public administration.


Creation of the Albanian alphabet

Vasa as a member of the Committee for Defending Albanian Rights was appointed along with Sami Frashëri, Jani Vreto and Hasan Tahsini to create an
Albanian alphabet The Albanian alphabet () is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters representing all the phonemes of Standard Albanian: The vowels are shown in bold. The letters are named simply by their ...
which by 19 March 1879 the group approved Frashëri's 36 letter alphabet consisting mostly of Latin characters. As such Vasa published a 16-page brochure entitled ''L'alphabet Latin appliqué à la langue albanaise'', Constantinople 1878 (The Latin alphabet applied to the Albanian language). Vasa expressed support for an alphabet of purely Latin characters. He was also a member of the
Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters () (Arvanitika: Σ̈oκ̇ε̰ρι ε τε̰ Σ̈τυπȣρι Σ̈κρoν̇α Σ̈κ̇ιπ) was a patriotic organization of Albanians, Albanian intellectuals, promoting publications in Albanian langu ...
, founded in
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
on 12 October 1879, to promote the printing and distribution of the Albanian-language books.


Governor of Lebanon

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...
Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...
appointed Vasa as Mutessarıf of
Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon (, ; , ; ) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It is about long and averages above in elevation, with its peak at . The range provides a typical alpine climate year-round. Mount Lebanon is well-known for its snow-covered mountains, ...
on 18 June 1882, a post reserved by
international treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, conventio ...
for a Catholic of Ottoman nationality after the civil unrest and French occupation of 1860. While in Lebanon as governor, Vasa continued his work for Albanianism by publishing books on Albania in French and other publications on the Albanian language. In his post as Mutassarıf, he was initially more willing to accept French consular authority, but over his nine years in office, he came to distrust both the French Consul and the Maronite Clergy, who closely guarded their privileges. This earned him accusations of corruption, in association with his son-in-law and deputy Kupelyan Effendi. Nevertheless, he remained in office until his death in
Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...
after a long illness on 29 June 1892. In 1978, the centenary of the League of Prizren, his remains were transferred from Lebanon back to a modest grave in Shkodra.


Literary works

During 1879 ''The Truth on Albania and Albanians'' was a book published by Vasa and appeared in French, English, German, Greek and Albanian translations that advocated for the Albanian cause and to inform a European readership about Albanians. In 1880 the book with a shortened title ''Albania and Albanians'' also appeared in Ottoman Turkish. The book discussed the origins of Albanians, who they were and their living conditions while arguing that they were the oldest people in the Balkans and separate from the Greeks. Vasa glorified medieval era Albanian resistance for independence and freedom to the Ottomans under
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, ...
while celebrating Albanian military prowess as a natural fighters and ability to defend the empire. He also mentioned that after those events Albanians were an integral and loyal part of the empire having contributed many statesmen, bureaucrats, commanders and soldiers. His book criticised Ottoman governance in Albania of sending non-Albanian Ottoman officials to administer Albanians who were ineffective as they were unfamiliar with the local language, customs and other societal factors. Vasa suggested indirectly that either local Albanians could be appointed or Ottoman officials trained in the local ways of the Albanians as a solution to those issues. He attempted to impress on readers the unity of Albanians as a people with a common language, customs, history and aspirations while sidelining religious divisions and differences between the areas of Gegalik (Gegënia) and Toskalik (Toskëria). Vasa also advocated for the unification of various vilayets with Albanian populations into one administrative unit claiming that it would assist Ottoman interests as Muslim Albanians had no desire to revolt against the empire. The political Albanianism of the book overall was a response to geopolitical threats posed to Albanian inhabited territories within the empire and issues relating to the notion of rights regarding nationality for Albanians. Various outlets of the European press like '' The (London) Times'' reviewed his book and explained its contents, themes and other details about Albania and Albanians to their readership. To make the Albanian language better known and to give other Europeans an opportunity to learn it, he published a ''Grammaire albanaise à l'usage de ceux qui désirent apprendre cette langue sans l'aide d'un maître'',
Ludgate Hill Ludgate Hill is a street and surrounding area, on a small hill in the City of London, England. The street passes through the former site of Ludgate, a city gate that was demolished – along with a gaol attached to it – in 1760. Th ...
1887 (Albanian grammar for those wishing to learn this language without the aid of a teacher), one of the rare grammars of the period. Pashko Vasa was also the author of a number of literary works of note. The first of these is a volume of Italian verse entitled ''Rose e spine'', Constantinople 1873 (Roses and thorns), forty-one emotionally charged poems (a total of ca. 1,600 lines) devoted to themes of love, suffering, solitude and death in the traditions of the romantic verse of his European predecessors
Giacomo Leopardi Count Giacomo Taldegardo Francesco di Sales Saverio Pietro Leopardi (29 June 1798 – 14 June 1837) was an Italian philosopher, poet, essayist, and philologist. Considered the greatest Italian poet of the 19th century and one of the greatest a ...
,
Alphonse de Lamartine Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine (; 21 October 179028 February 1869) was a French author, poet, and statesman. Initially a moderate royalist, he became one of the leading critics of the July Monarchy of Louis-Philippe, aligning more w ...
and
Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...
. Among the subjects treated in these meditative Italian poems, two of which are dedicated to the Italian poets Francesco Petrarch and
Torquato Tasso Torquato Tasso ( , also , ; 11 March 154425 April 1595) was an Italian poet of the 16th century, known for his 1591 poem ''Gerusalemme liberata'' (Jerusalem Delivered), in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between ...
, are life in exile and family tragedy, a reflection of Pashko Vasa's own personal life. His first wife, Drande, whom he had married in 1855, and four of their five children died before him, and in later years too, personal misfortune continued to haunt him. In 1884, shortly after his appointment as Governor General of the Lebanon, his second wife from Shkodër, Katerina Bonati, died of tuberculosis, as did his surviving daughter Roza in 1887. ''Bardha de Témal, scènes de la vie albanaise'', Paris 1890 (Bardha of Temal, scenes from Albanian life), is a French-language novel which Pashko Vasa published in Paris under the pseudonym of Albanus Albano the same year as Naim Frashëri's noted verse collection ''Lulet e verës'' (The Flowers of Spring) appeared in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
. 'Bardha of Temal,' though not written in Albanian, is, after Sami Frashëri's much shorter prose work 'Love of Tal'at and Fitnat,' the oldest novel written and published by an Albanian and is certainly the oldest such novel with an Albanian theme. Focusing on the habits and customs of Gheg Albanians in Northern Albania the novel set in Shkodra during 1842, is classically structured roman-feuilleton, rather excessively sentimental for modern tastes and follows the tribulations of the fair but married Bardha and her lover, the young Aradi. It was written not only as an entertaining love story but also with a view to informing the western reader of the customs and habits of the northern Albanians. Bardha is no doubt the personification of Albania itself, married off against her will to the powers that be. Above and beyond its didactic character and any possible literary pretensions the author might have had, 'Bardha of Temal' also has a more specific political background. It was interpreted by some Albanian intellectuals at the time as a vehicle for discrediting the Gjonmarkaj clan who, in cahoots with the powerful abbots of
Mirdita Mirdita is a region of northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribe of the same name. Etymology The name Mirdita derives from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti from whom the tribe claims descent. Other a ...
, held sway in the Shkodra region. It is for this reason perhaps that Pashko Vasa published the novel under the pseudonym Albanus Albano. The work is not known to have had any particular echo in the French press of the period. Though most of Pashko Vasa's publications were in French and Italian, there is one poem, the most influential and perhaps the most popular ever written in Albanian, which has ensured him his deserved place in Albanian literary history, the famous '' O moj Shqypni e mjera Shqypni'' (Oh Albania, Poor Albania). Frustrated by Albanian societal divisions, this stirring appeal by Vasa for a national awakening and unity transcending religious and other identities is thought to have been written in the period between 1878, the dramatic year of the
League of Prizren The League of Prizren (), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation (), was an Albanian political organization that was officially founded on June 10, 1878 in the old town of Prizren in the Kosovo Vilayet of th ...
, and 1880. Vasa overall continued to inform European readers on Albanians and Albania through his French publications, as he had done from the time of the Unionist Societies.


Published works

* ''Rose e spine'' (1873) * ''Études Sur L'Albanie Et Les Albanais'' ( Constantinopol, 1879) * ''Grammaire albanaise à l'usage de ceux qui désirent apprendre cette langue sans l'aide d'un maître'', (
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, 1887) * ''L'alphabet Latin appliqué à la langue albanaise'', ( Constantinopol, 1878) * ''Bosnie et Hercegovine pendant la mission de Djevdet Effendi'', ( Constantinopol, 1865) * ''La vérité sur l'Albanie et les Albanais'', (
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 ...
, 1879) * ''Esquisse historique sur le Monténégro d'après les traditions de l'Albanie'', ( Constantinopol, 1872) * '' O moj Shqypni'' (1880) * ''Barda de Témal'', (
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 ...
, 1890)


See also

*
Albanian literature Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian language, Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particul ...
* Rilindja Kombëtare * ''(Albanian)''


References


External links

*
Robert Elsie, Pashko Vasa


text, concordances and frequency list (Albanian and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vasa, Pashko Activists of the Albanian National Awakening 19th-century Albanian writers Albanian Roman Catholics 1825 births 1892 deaths 19th-century Albanian poets Writers from Shkodër Albanian Pashas Albanian male poets Writers from the Ottoman Empire in French Italian-language poets Albanian revolutionaries Ottoman governors of Mount Lebanon Albanian novelists 19th-century Albanian historians 19th-century Albanian male writers Albanian male non-fiction writers Writers from the Ottoman Empire