Turkish historian Nexhip Alpan has written a history book about the founder of the Albanian state, Ismail Qemali. Here are 10 interesting facts about his life:
1- Ismail Qemali's birthday coincides with that of Enver Hoxha. Until the '90s, the official text of the history of Albania, the Encyclopedic Dictionary, but also in other memoirs, Ismail Qemali did not have a date of birth, but was marked only the year, 1846. The Turkish historian Alpan says that the exact birthday of Ismail Kemal is October 16, 1846.
2 - Real name: Another curiosity from the life of the founder of the state is that in all documents of the time he is called Ismail Bey Vlora and not Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Bey Qemali. However, Ismail Qemali seems to have gained the right of citizenship, as it is found in almost all official history books.
3- Marriages and children: Ismail Qemali was married twice. For the first time he married a widow from Konica, who died during childbirth together with his daughter, for the second time in 1886, to Kleoniqi Surmeli, the daughter of a Greek nobleman from the province of Edirne. Ismail Qemali was forced to kidnap his second wife, as the laws forbade the marriage of a Muslim to an Orthodox one. From the second marriage Ismail Qemali had 9 children, three daughters and six sons. The girls were called Myvedet, Alije, Ylvie. While the boys were Mahmud Bey, Tahir Bey, Et'hem Bey, Xhevdet Bey, Qazim Bey and Qami Bey.
4- Polyglot : Ismail Qemali knew, in addition to Albanian, seven languages, which were Ottoman, New Turkish, Old Greek, Latin, Italian, French, Slavic.
5 - Suspicious death: Ismail Qemali died in mysterious circumstances in Perugia, Italy, a few moments before giving a press conference. To date there is in fact no final version of his death, but doubts have always been cast. He is thought to have been poisoned. The body of Ismail Qemali was kept in Peruxha for two weeks after his death, with the idea of â??â??embalming. But this added to the suspicions of poisoning, as his internal organs were removed, eliminating any signs of an autopsy.
6- The flag that was raised: There have been discussions and it has not yet been decided which flag was raised on November 28, 1912 on the balcony of the historic house of Vlora. One variant is that the flag was embroidered by Marigo Pozio, a bride of the house where Ismaili slept last night; another variant is that the flag was brought by Spiridon Ilo from the USA; while the third variant is that of Eqrem bey of Vlora, according to whom the flag was given to him by Aleadro Kasstriota, the husband of a princess who claimed to be the descendant of Skanderbeg.
7- Symbol photo: The symbol photo of the Declaration of Independence has remained that of December 1, 1912. To this day there is no photograph from the moment of the Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912.
8– Independence Document: The original Declaration of Independence document was not found. Who he is, is a copy of Lef Nosi, who in the first Albanian government was Minister of Post-Telegraph.
9- How long he remained in power: Ismail Qemali, as prime minister and the first president in the history of the Albanian state who remained at the head of the government from November 28, 1912 to January 22, 1914, ie, 12 months and 56 days.
10- Remains: As a start, the embalmed body of Ismail Qemali was buried according to his order, in Kanina. The burial ceremony took place on February 12, 1919, Wednesday. After 13 years of rest in the castle of Kanina, the dead body of the first prime minister of the Albanian state landed in Vlora, on the date of November 28, 1932, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the declaration of independence. Ismail Qemali's body was placed in the place where it is today, in "Flag Square" in Vlora. The monumental tomb of Ismail Qemali has the figure of "Flamurtari", a work of the famous sculptor Odise Paskali.
