Naim Frashëri
Albanian national poet and leading figure of the National Awakening.
Naim Frashëri was an Albanian historian, journalist, poet, and translator who became a central figure of the Albanian National Awakening. He is regarded as a pioneer of modern Albanian literature and was proclaimed the national poet of Albania. His line 'Ti Shqipëri, më jep nder, më jep emrin Shqipëtar' was designated as the national motto of Albania.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 25 May 1846
- Birthplace
- Frashër, Yanina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire (modern Albania)
- Died
- 20 October 1900
- Place of death
- Kadıköy, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (modern Istanbul, Turkey)
- Occupation
- Educator
- historian
- journalist
- poet
- politician
- translator
- writer
- Language
- Albanian
- Ottoman Turkish
- Persian
- Arabic
- Ancient Greek
- Modern Greek
- French
- Italian
- Education
- Zosimaia School
- Genre
- Romanticism
Facts from the source article.
Life
Naim Frashëri was born on 25 May 1846 in the village of Frashër, then part of the Ottoman Empire, into a wealthy Albanian family affiliated with the Bektashi tariqa of Islam. He was one of eight children of Halid Frashëri, a landowner and military commander, and Emine. The family traced its ancestry to Ajaz Bey from Gramsh, whose grandfather Hamza Bey had lost lands in Tomorrica in 1570 after a rebellion. After his father's death, Frashëri and his family moved to Ioannina, where he gained initial inspiration for his lyric and romantic poetry. He became acquainted with Arabic, Ancient and Modern Greek, French, Italian, Ottoman Turkish, and Persian, making him equally familiar with Occidental and Oriental literary culture. Following a severe lung infection from congenital tuberculosis in Constantinople, he joined his brother Abdyl in the struggle for Albanian national freedom and consciousness during the Albanian Renaissance.
Career
Frashëri's literary stature and broad stylistic and thematic range contributed significantly to the development of the modern Albanian literary language. His works are noted for their social and political intention, expressing a desire for an independent Albanian unity that overcomes denominational and territorial differences, and an optimistic belief in the rise of the Albanian people. In his poem Bagëti e Bujqësi, he idyllically describes Albania's natural and cultural beauty and the modest life of its people. He composed the theological Fletore e Bektashinjet, which contains an introductory profession of his faith and ten spiritual poems offering a contemporary perspective on Bektashi beliefs. His published works include Kavâid-i farisiyye dar tarz-i nevîn (1871), Ihtiraat ve kessfiyyat (1881), Fusuli erbea (1884), Tahayyülat (1884), Bagëti e Bujqësi (1886), E këndimit çunavet (1886), Istori e përgjithshme për mësonjëtoret të para (1886), Vjersha për mësonjëtoret të para (1886), Dituritë për mësonjëtoret të para (1886), O alithis pothos ton Skypetaron (1886), Luletë e Verësë (1890), Mësime (1894), Parajsa dhe fjala fluturake (1894), Gjithësia (1895), Fletore e bektashinjët (1895), O eros (1895), Iliadh' e Omirit (1896), Histori e Skënderbeut (1898), Qerbelaja (1898), Istori e Shqipërisë (1899), and Shqipëria (1902).
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