Sabiha Kasimati
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Sabiha Kasimati (15 September 191226 February 1951) 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 professor of biology and
ichthyologist Ichthyology is the branch of zoology devoted to the study of fish, including bony fish (Osteichthyes), cartilaginous fish (Chondrichthyes), and jawless fish (Agnatha). According to FishBase, 35,800 species of fish had been described as of March 2 ...
, cited as one of the first women scientists in Albania. She was arrested by the communist regime on 20 February 1951, after the bombing of the Soviet embassy, and a few days later was executed without trial along with 21 other intellectuals.


Life


Early life

Kasimati came from a well-known intellectual family originated from Libohova. She was born on 15 September 1912 in
Edirne Edirne (; ), historically known as Orestias, Adrianople, is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the Edirne Province, province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, Edirne was the second c ...
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 ...
(today
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
) to Abdurrahman Kasimati and Zehra Mbreshtani. Sabiha was the youngest of her five siblings. Her father, Abdurrahman, had completed his university studies in Medicine in Turkey, where he lived and worked as a doctor until 1927. The year in which he returned to Albania and where he first settled 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 ...
, then 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 ...
were served as a physician. After settling in Korçë, she began her studies at the National Lyceum, also known as the ''French Lyceum'', a name which had left from the time of the First World War where the French presence. language and its culture in the city were quite significant. One of her classmates was the future dictator
Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...
. In 1930 she became the first woman to graduate from this school. She was fluent in several languages but especially French. Right after graduating from the ''Lyceum'', she worked for some time as a teacher in the normal girls' school in the city, teaching the subjects of ''Moral Education'' and ''French Language''. Later she transferred as a lecturer at the ''Albanian-American school'' in
Kavajë Kavajë ( , sq-definite, Kavaja) is a city and municipality centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania, in Tirana County. It borders Durrës to the north , Tirana, Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south . To the west ...
, where she taught one of the passions of her life, ''Biology''. In 1936 she was able to fulfill her desire for higher studies. The Albanian state awarded her a scholarship to the
University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian language, Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public university, public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the List ...
, at the ''Faculty of Biological Sciences'', which she successfully completed with full and excellent grades. In the summer of 1941, she defended her doctorate, with the topic: ''"Fauna ittica di acqua dolce d'Albania"'' ''()'' and sometime after returned to Albania.


Career and scientific studies

Upon returning to her homeland, Kasimati was appointed a teacher at the Women's Institute ''"Nana Mbretëreshë"'', which after the Italian occupation was named ''"Donika Kastrioti"''. In parallel with her pedagogical work, she gave an important place in her life and in her scientific activity to the study of the biology of sea fish that live in lagoons, swamps, collecting materials for the preparation of the major work of the future, the monograph: "Fishes of Albania". For health reasons she was forced to leave her pedagogical work and be treated at the anti-tuberculosis sanatorium in northern Italy in Bolzano, where she remained until 1945. After the end of the Second World War, Kasimati decided to return to her homeland in 1947, while the communists had just come to power in the country. With the establishment of the Institute of Studies, she is immediately appointed as a scientific specialist. A year later, when the institute is renamed the Institute of Scientific Studies, she is appointed zoologist specialist, profiled for ichthyology, in the section of biological sciences, with the head of the sector Dr. Sotir Angjeli. During this time Kasimati did the voluminous job of defining the scientific bibliography found in Albania at the time, especially with the confiscated library fund. Kasimati managed to write a long programmatic article entitled "Problems of fish and fisheries in our country", published in the Bulletin of the Institute in No. 2-3 of 1948. In that long technical-scientific article, she treated analytically the ichthyological wealth of the country, according to the areas, the problems of breeding and necessary cultivation of some species, especially
carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...
,
koran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
,
European bass The European seabass (''Dicentrarchus labrax''), also known as the branzino, European bass, sea bass, common bass, white bass, capemouth, white salmon, sea perch, white mullet, sea dace or loup de mer, is a primarily ocean-going fish native to the ...
, etc. Initially, in the article she presents the very suitable natural conditions that Albania has, both in rich river and marine ichthyofauna. She cites Italian authors and studies, who have mentioned ichthyological wealth and the economic possibilities of its exploitation. Further, she analyzed the natural factors suitable for this faunal wealth, ranging from configuration, large and protected bays, large swamps, water not too salty and that did not freeze even during the winter. Of particular importance she attributed to the currents of water, with were rich of
plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...
s, rising from the
Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...
to the north of the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...
. Another important condition Kasimati dealt with was the configuration of the submarine bed, the submarine platform, which is wide paved with fine sand or mud, where all kinds of aquatic plants, crustaceans and small
mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000  extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...
s, with which the fish feed, are found. According to the data of her study, in these areas are found mostly high-quality fish, such as
Sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...
, European bass, Twait shad, Orata, and
Eel Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 20 families, 164 genera, and about 1000 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...
. The latter, according to Kasimati, travel over 300 km to the
Maliq Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite, Maliki), is a town and a municipality in Korçë County of eastern Albania. It is the smaller of two cities in the district, the other being Korçë, southeast of Maliq. The cu ...
i swamp. She points out the experiments for successfully growing and cultivating carp in rice fields. In order to convince the public and economists it analyzes and offers some suggestions where the state can benefit from fisheries, including newly formed cooperatives. According to those data, the amount of fish reached 3238-4881
quintal The quintal or centner is a historical unit of mass in many countries that is usually defined as 100 base units, such as pounds or kilograms. It is a traditional unit of weight in France, Portugal, and Spain and their former colonies. It is com ...
, mostly in the Narta area, while in other areas with even greater potential, such as the
Butrint Butrint (, , ) was an ancient Greek polis and later Roman city and the seat of an early Christian bishopric in Epirus. Originally a settlement of the Greek tribe of the Chaonians, it later became part of the state of Epirus and later a Roman ...
area, due to the lack of modern fishing boats or other equipment, this figures did not exceed 7–8% of the Narta area, thus maintaining a very important economic reserve. A negative phenomenon that Kasimati had ascertained, was the indiscriminate, very intensive exploitation of fish with high commercial values and consequently, the impoverishment of ichthyofauna with these species. For modern fishing that allowed a sustainable economic perspective, according to her, more important are the equipment for the conservation of live fish, special facilities, as well as premises for the storage and processing of fish products. In 1949, the Department of Natural Sciences carried out a long study expedition in the areas of
Kukës Kukës (; sq-definite, Kukësi) is a city in Albania. The city is the capital of the surrounding municipality of Kukës and county of Kukës County, Kukës, one of 12 constituent Counties of Albania, counties of the republic. It spans and had a ...
, Bicaj, Pukë, Burrel, Qafë-Shtamë; Bogë, and Theth, thus realizing a verification of previous findings regarding the ichthyofauna of Albanian waters. At the end of this expedition, Kasimati managed to describe the representatives of families, orders, genera and species of all fish in Albania. After a scientific work in the middle of 1950, she submitted to the institute for publication the volume of about 200 pages, entitled "Fishes of Albania". This work summarized 257 species of fish, grouped in 211 families, of 99 orders, leaving without identifying ten species of fish, which usually come very rarely in the waters of the country, or which had not yet been encountered in the Adriatic Sea. But just when the book was in print, even in the final stages of release, Kasimati is arrested.


Criticism of the government, charges and execution

Kasimati had long opposed many of the policies of the post-war communist regime, especially after the elimination and internment of some Albanian intellectuals, who often had nothing to do with the political opponents of the PPSH. One such case that shocked her was the shooting of the scientist and professor Selaudin Toto, at the same time the director of the ''Institute of Scientific Studies'' where both of them had helped establish the institution. Or as it was the case of the opposition intellectual, and the first female Albanian writer, Musine Kokalari, who was convicted and imprisoned. All those sentences had pushed Kasimati to meet in person with
Enver Hoxha Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...
, whom she had known since the time of the French Lyceum. For this meeting, some scholars quote Kasimat as saying: "I have come to tell you that you are killing all intellectuals. I want to ask you with whom you intend to build Albania, with the tinsmiths or the shoemakers?"; to which Hoxha replied: "Stop reading the
French Enlightenment French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band) ...
, I advise you to read
Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
and
Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
." On 19 February 1951, a small amount of
dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...
(which was considered a bomb) was thrown in the yard of the Soviet Embassy in Tirana. Several dozen Albanians were arrested and after investigations, tortures of all kinds during 2–3 days, only 22 people were separated. Among them was Sabiha Kasimati, for whom the authorities never gave any explanation as to what connected her to this event. In fact, as was learned after the fall of communism, all the accused and executed were not given any kind of trial, no opportunity to defend themselves, and no appeal. On February 26, just one week after the incident, they were taken near the village of Mënik, on the banks of the Erzeni River and were shot.
Mehmet Shehu Mehmet Ismail Shehu (January 10, 1913 – December 18, 1981) was an Albanian Communism, communist politician who served as the Prime Minister of Albania, Prime Minister of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1954 to 1981. He was known ...
, then Minister of Internal Affairs, was personally involved in the brief investigation of Kasimati. On March 5, the then Minister of Justice, Manol Konomi, was fired for disagreeing with the violation of legality and the fabrication of a trial that had not previously taken place for those 22 people already killed.


Legacy

Her work was published but not under her name. "Fishes of Albania" documented the fish of Albanian lakes, rivers and the seas and it was publicised under the name of the Russian scientist Anatoly Poliakov and two Albanian researchers in 1955. Kasimati is credited with creating the idea of an Albania's National Museum of Science. In October 2018, it was announced that the Albanian National Museum of Science would be named for and that an area of the museum would be set aside for her life story and sacrifice.


See also

*
Sevasti Qiriazi Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako (Sevasti D. Kyrias) (ca. 1871–1949) was an Albanians, Albanian patriot, educator, Protestant missionary, author, pioneer of Albanian female education, and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. Life and early career ...
*
Parashqevi Qiriazi Parashqevi Qiriazi (Paraskevi D. Kyrias) (27 May 1886 – 17 December 1970) was an Albanian teacher of the Qiriazi family who dedicated her life to the Albanian alphabet and to the instruction of written Albanian language. She was a woman partic ...
* Fatbardha Gega * Urani Rumbo * Ollga Plumbi


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasimati, Sabiha 1912 births 1951 deaths Immigrants to Albania Turkish emigrants Albanian dissidents 20th-century Albanian scientists Albanian discoverers People from Edirne People from Adrianople vilayet Ichthyologists People executed by Albania by firing squad 20th-century zoologists Executed Albanian women 20th-century Albanian women 20th-century women scientists