Tahir Kolgjini
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Hafiz Tahir Kolgjini ( Lusën,
Kukës County Kukës County (; ) is a landlocked county in northeastern Albania, with the capital in Kukës. The county spans and had a total population of 61,998 people as of 2021. The county borders on the counties of Dibër County, Dibër, Lezhë County, Le ...
,
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 ...
, 24 April 1903 –
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 ...
, 12 December 1988) 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 imam, scholar, writer, poet, historian, and clerk.


Biography

He was born in the Lamshejt neighborhood of Lusën as the son of Alia (son of Osman) Kolgjini and Qamila (daughter of Sadik) Tota. He began his training with Mullah Ademi in
Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...
, but emigrated to Istanbul with his family during the
Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...
, and though the rest of the family returned after six months, he stayed in the Turkish capital with his merchant father. Tahir studied at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Elementary School there, learning the
Quran 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 ...
by heart and thus earning the title Hafiz. In Istanbul, he attended the Dar-ul Hilafet-ul Aliyye High Madrasa until that institution was shut down by
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
in 1924. From 1925 to 1926, he worked as a teacher and principal in Bicaj, going on to do the same in his hometown from 1927-28 until he resigned and moved to
Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...
. At the end of 1928, he was appointed secretary of the peace court in Himara, followed by a promotion in April 1929 to secretary of the Court of First Instance in Kukës. In 1932, he ran for office for a banned political party in a rigged election, for which he was imprisoned in Porto Palermo Castle. After serving his sentence, he returned to Kukës to work as a government clerk. In 1939, he was appointed mayor of Kukës. After the
invasion of Yugoslavia The invasion of Yugoslavia, also known as the April War or Operation 25, was a Nazi Germany, German-led attack on the Kingdom of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers which began on 6 April 1941 during World War II. The order for the invasion was put fo ...
in 1941, he settled in
Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...
to promote the
Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...
as president of the
Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...
region starting on April 15, returning to Kukës once more that October. In November, he met with
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
clergy and convened the Congress of Muslim Clergy in Prizren with Hafiz Abdullah Telaku, under the direction of Fejzi Alizoti. Kolgjini helped smooth over relations between the new body and puppet Prime Minister of Albania
Mustafa Merlika-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 Italian occupation from December 4, 1941, to January 19, 1943. E ...
, urging the latter to mollify guerrilla Muharrem Bajraktari with an appointment as prefect of Lumë. Kolgjini was then appointed prefect in
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 ...
from 1942 to 1943, then returned to Pristina for some months in 1943 after Kruja's dismissal. He joined the
Interior Ministry An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law enforcement. In some states, the ...
of Xhafer Deva as General Director of the Police from September 1943 to his dismissal in August 1944. From August 1944 to 24 November that year he served as a prefect of
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 escaped the advancing Allied forces by joining the exodus of Gjon Markagjoni and his followers in the short-lived Republic of Mirdita, who went through the
Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...
to
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. ...
. Kolgjini and eight friends moved on to
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
and
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, ...
, and he would settle with an entourage of anti-communists in
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia (; ), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until Unification of Italy, 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has about 172,51 ...
until 1948. On 30 June 1948 he arrived in Istanbul after a three-day voyage on a ship named after his destination. In exile, he joined the Blloku Kombëtar Independent and participated in various Albanian emigrant causes. He died in Istanbul.


Work

He has written articles and works in many fields and different languages, on literary, political, cultural, and scientific topics. His work has been published in newspapers and magazines throughout
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
as well as in the
United States of America The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguo ...
. Both under his own name and under pseudonyms (such as ''Lok Limthi'', ''Dylej'', and ''Dashamiri''), Kolgjini published in such publications as
Ernest Koliqi Ernest Koliqi (20 May 190315 January 1975) was an Albanian journalist, pro-Axis politician, translator, teacher and writer. Biography Born to a Catholic Albanian family in Shkodra, where he also attended his first lessons at the local Je ...
’s '' Shêjzat'' in Rome, Prof. Lec Shllaku’s ''Koha e Jonë'' in
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 ...
, the
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
-based '' Dielli'' (published by
Vatra, the Pan-Albanian Federation of America Vatra (') is an association of Albanian Americans, created in 1912, that has historically protected the rights of the Albanians in the United States, as well as has endeavored in lobbying with the United States Congress about the rights of the Alb ...
), and the Istanbul papers ''Vardari'' and ''Besa''. Other works include: * ''Shpalime rreth Lahutës së Malcís'' (“Revelations about The Highland Lute”), over 300 pages, Istanbul, 1969. * ''Esad Pashë Toptani dhe akuzat q'i bahen'' (“
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 ...
and the Accusations Against Him”), Istanbul, 1977. * ''Të vërtetat shqiptaro-greke'' (“Albanian-Greek Realities”), originally published as ''Arnavutluk ve Yuninistan Gerçekleri'' in Turkish, Istanbul, 1968; a translation into Albanian was published in 1997 with a foreword by Hysamedin Feraj. * “Fjalët turkisht në Lahutën e Malësisë” (“Turkish words in The Highland Lute”), ''Shêjzat'', Rome, 1962. * ''Luma dhe luftat e saj'' (“ Luma and her fights”), Istanbul, 1970. * ''Po vajtojmë Gjon Gjinin'' (“We Are Mourning Gjon Gjini”), Istanbul, 1979. * ''Poetry'', Tirana, 1993, a summary compiled by Agim Spahiu.


References

{{authority control Albanian imams Albanian poets Albanian writers 1903 births 1988 deaths