The Toptani were a leading

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy (class), aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below Royal family, royalty. Nobility has often been an Estates of the realm, estate of the rea ...

in central

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 ...

at the beginning of the 20th century. They belonged to a small number of noble families appointed by the Ottomans who used local chieftains to control Ottoman Albania more easily.

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 ...

, a family patriarch, claimed that the family descended from the Thopia family. According to some sources, the name is derived from the word ''

top Top most commonly refers to: * Top, a basic term of orientation, distinguished from bottom, front, back, and sides * Spinning top, a ubiquitous traditional toy * Top (clothing), clothing designed to be worn over the torso * Mountain top, a moun ...

,'' which means cannon, as the family owned a cannon at a time when artillery was rare.

Estates

The Toptani family initially lived in

Krujë Krujë ( sq-definite, Kruja; see also the etymology section) is a town and a municipality in north-central Albania. Located between Mount Krujë and the Ishëm River, the city is 20 km north of the capital of Albania, Tirana. Krujë was ...

before moving 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 ...

during the 17th century, when many

sipahi The ''sipahi'' ( , ) were professional cavalrymen deployed by the Seljuk Turks and later by the Ottoman Empire. ''Sipahi'' units included the land grant–holding ('' timar'') provincial ''timarli sipahi'', which constituted most of the arm ...

s moved from rural regions of the Ottoman Empire to cities. Their move from Krujë to Tirana probably contributed to the development of

sharecropping Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

in Albania. The Toptani family possessed around 50,000 hectares near Tirana and

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

and remained one of the main landowners until the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In July 2023, it was announced that Oppenheim Architecture had won the competition to restore Albania's Besa Museum housed in Tirana's Former House of Toptani Family, aiming to showcase Albania's historic Besa code and its role in providing refuge, from the Holocaust to contemporary times.

Notable members

Notable members of the family include: *

Abdi Toptani Abdi Toptani (28 August 1864 – 1 August 1942) 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 ...

* Blendi Fevziu ''(adopted)'' * Essad Toptani * Fuad Toptani * Gani Toptani * Murad Toptani * Sadije Toptani, Queen Mother of the Albanians * Refik Bej Toptani * Qemoran Toptani

References

External links

Toptani family website
{{Albanian noble families People from Tirana Families from the Ottoman Empire