Sami Bey Vrioni (1876–1947) was an Albanian politician,

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 a delegate at the

Assembly of Vlora Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

which declared 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 ...

. He was a respected and powerful landowner in the

Fier Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri, Latin: ''Fierum'') is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in ...

region of

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 ...

Biography

Sami Vrioni was a member of the prominent landowning Vrioni family of

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and ea ...

and

Myzeqe The Myzeqe (; sq-definite, Myzeqeja; ) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. Location The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by three main riv ...

. His father was

Omar Pasha Vrioni II Omer Pasha Vrioni II (1839–1928), also referred as Ymer or Omar, was an Albanian ruler from one of the most powerful Albanian families of the 19th century. He founded the city of Fier. Biography Omer Pasha was a member of the Vrioni landowni ...

(1839–1928). Sami Vrioni himself was owner of around 5,000

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 in the agricultural region of southern

. He was one of the delegates of the

in 1912, representing

region. According to some sources,

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 ...

wanted him as part of his cabinet, but his father Omer Pasha was skeptical regarding the Qemali's government. Having served as parliamentary Deputy for Berat in 1912, under

Prince Wied Wilhelm, Prince of Albania (Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich; , 26 March 1876 – 18 April 1945) was sovereign of the Principality of Albania from 7 March to 3 September 1914. His reign officially came to an end on 31 January 1925, when the country w ...

he served as a seneschal (Court Chamberlain). He was part of the Albanian delegation in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

of April 1917 representing the districts of

Skrapar Skrapar ( sq-definite, Skrapari) is a Municipalities of Albania, municipality in Berat County, Southern Albania, southern Albania. It was created in 2015 by the merger of the former municipalities Bogovë, Çepan, Çorovodë, Gjerbës, Leshnjë, Po ...

and

. Sami Vrioni had graduated as agronomist and engineer. Along with

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 ...

he spoke Turkish,

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 ...

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 ...

, and

French 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), ...

. He was a participant of the

Congress of Durrës The Congress of Durrës () was a conference of Albanian political leaders, held from December 25 to December 27, 1918, in Durrës, at the time capital of the Principality of Albania. Mehmet Konica was the Chairman of the Congress, which aimed ...

and was elected Minister of Agriculture of the provisional government that came out of it, switching to Minister of Public Works in 1919–1920. According to

Sejfi Vllamasi Sejfi Vllamasi (1883–1975) was an Albanian congressman and well-known politician during the first half of the 20th century. He was born in the village of Novoselë, in Kolonjë, Albania (at the time part of the Ottoman Empire). Vllamasi studied ...

's (1883–1975) memories, Vrioni together with

Mustafa Kruja Mustafa Merlika-Kruja (March 15, 1887 – December 27, 1958) was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence. He was Prime Minister of Albania during the Albania under Italy, Italian occupation from December 4, 1941, to J ...

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

Myfid Libohova Mufid Bey Libohova (1876 in Libohovë – 1927 in Sarandë) was an Albanian economist, diplomat and politician and one of the delegates at the Assembly of Vlorë (28 November 1912) where the Albanian Declaration of Independence took place. H ...

joined the camp of the pro-Italian opponents of the

Congress of Lushnjë The Congress of Lushnjë (), historically documented by the name ''Mbledhja Kombiare Lushnje'', was a conference of Albanian political leaders held from January 21 to January 31, 1920, in Lushnjë, Albania. Its objective was to deal with the is ...

, with the three others actively trying to persuade or force the delegates not to join the Lushnjë event. Served as Assemblyman (1924–1925, 1928–1932) and Senator (1925–1928) of the Albanian parliament. Regardless of the fact that he descended from a landowning feudal cast, Sami Vrioni had credibility between the

Noli Noli (; ) is a coast ''comune'' of Liguria, Italy, in the Province of Savona, it is about southwest of Genoa by rail, about above sea-level. The origin of the name may come from ''Neapolis'', meaning "new city" in Greek. It is one of I Borgh ...

st opposition of early 20s. In February 1924, the opposition was hoping on bringing him up as Prime Minister, which was disregarded by the most powerful group of

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 ...

, who elected

Shefqet Vërlaci Shefqet Vërlaci bej (; 15 December 1877 – 21 July 1946), also known as Shevket Verlaci, was an Albanian politician and wealthy landowner who served as the 12th Prime Minister of Albania. Biography Shefqet Vërlaci was born on 15 December 18 ...

instead of him. Vrioni was arrested by the communist dictatorship that took power in 1944, he died under torture in 1947 or 1952. Sami Vrioni was married to the daughter of

Essad Pasha Toptani Essad Toptani (1863/1875 – 13 June 1920) was an Albanian politician who served as the third prime minister of Albania from 1914 to 1916. He previously established the Republic of Central Albania based in Durrës. An Ottoman army officer, he ...

Political Activity

* Delegate of the

event in 1912 * Court Chamberlain of

Prince of Albania This is an archontological list of Albanian monarchs, containing monarchs of the medieval Albanian principalities, Albanian kingdoms and to heads of state of modern Albania. Starting from the first established monarch Progon of Kruja from th ...

, 1914 * Minister of Agriculture of Albania: December 1918 – 1919 * Minister of Public Works of Albania: 1919 – January 1920 * Assemblyman (1924–1925, 1928–1932) * Member of Albanian Senate (1925–1928)

References

;Citations ;Source * * * * * *

Biography

Political Activity

References

See also