Albert Ghica (1868-1928) was a Romanian writer and socialite. He was a member of the Ghica noble family. Later in life he changed his name to the Albanian form Gjika, for more credentials in his quest for the Albanian throne. [1]
He was a pretender to the Albanian throne. [2] A committee was founded in Paris by Dervish Hima and Dimitri Papazoglou, an Aromanian captain that sought to make Ghica the prince of Albania. [3] Good relations were maintained between Ghica and Ismail Qemali, an Albanian leader involved in the Albanian national movement. [3] Writing on the Albanian struggle against the Ottomans at the beginning of the 20th century, British journalist and foreign correspondent for the Manchester Guardian in the Balkans H. N. Brailsford spoke the following in his book Macedonia; Its Races and Their Future (1906): "The second claimant (for a possible future Albanian State) is a certain Prince Albert Ghica, who comes of a family of Albanian origin, long resident in Roumania. It has given Hospodars (Governors) to the old Wallachian provinces and diplomats to the modern kingdom, and enjoys princely rank in the Austrian Empire. Prince Albert is a comparatively young man with plausible manners and a dubious past, who speaks fluent French, and knows neither one word of the Albanian language nor the elements of Albanian geography. He has been chosen honorary president by one of the numerous clubs of Albanian immigrants in Bucharest, and on the strength of this social honour he poses in European hotels as the chief-elect of the Albanian people. He talks of venturing in person into Albania and raising the flag of revolt. We shall see." [4]
He married Margaret Dowling in London in April 1905. [5] He later seemed to have abandoned his bid for throne, [2] as the personal letters Austrian Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, himself a pretender to the Albanian throne, suggest. They state the following: "Albert Ghica, who had been a pretender to the Albanian throne himself, had managed to interest the Duke of Montpensier in the Albanian throne. He ceded his 'rights,' which were recognized by no one as a matter of fact, to the duke and began to campaign on his behalf in exchange for an appropriate remuneration." [6]
Under his presidency, a Pan-Albanian Congress was organized in Bucharest in 1905 where Ismail Qemali, the future founder of the modern Albanian state and its first head of state and government, deliberated with Bucharest's Albanian community. [2] Albert Ghica also wrote on the topic of the Albanian issue, publishing the book L'Albanie et la question d'Orient: (Solution de la question d'Orient). [2]
Wilhelm, Prince of Albania 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 was declared an Albanian Republic.
Ismail Qemali, sometimes spelled as Ismail Kemal in old diplomatic correspondence, was an Albanian politician and statesman who is regarded as the founder of modern Albania. He served as the first prime minister of Albania from December 1912 until his resignation in January 1914.
The House of Ghica [or Ghika] was a noble family whose members held significant positions in Wallachia, Moldavia and later in the Kingdom of Romania, between the 17th and 19th centuries. The Ghica family produced many voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia and two Prime Ministers of Romania. Several branches of the family still exist today.
While the medieval Angevin Kingdom of Albania was a monarchy, it did not fully encompass the entirety of modern Albania. Although discontent among Albanian nobles emerged by 1282 due to the Angevin king's unfulfilled promises, the kingdom did not end at that time. Instead, Albanian nobles sought the support of the Byzantine Emperor in Constantinople, but Angevin rule continued in the region for several more decades. During the Middle Ages their have been many different Albanian nobles who called themselves ruler of Albania, including Dhimitër Progoni, Andrea II Muzaka, Karl Thopia, and Skanderbeg.
Henry Noel Brailsford was a British journalist and writer, considered one of the most prolific left-wing journalists of the first half of the 20th century. A founding member of the Men's League for Women's Suffrage in 1907, he resigned from his job at The Daily News in 1909 when it supported the force-feeding of suffragettes on hunger strike.
Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás was a Hungarian aristocrat, adventurer, scholar, geologist, paleontologist and albanologist. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of paleobiology, and first described the theory of insular dwarfism. He was also a specialist on Albanian studies and completed the first geological map of northern Albania.
Dora d'Istria, pen name of duchess Helena Koltsova-Massalskaya, born Elena Ghica (Gjika) (22 January 1828, Bucharest – 17 November 1888, Florence), was a Romanian Romantic writer and feminist. She was an advocate for the Albanian national cause of the 19th century, and promoted the Albanian struggle for independence in Western Europe, despite not knowing the Albanian language herself. Her writings and efforts gained recognition among Albanian nationalist circles, and her name was used to garner support for the cause.
Albanians in Romania are an officially recognized ethnic minority, with one seat reserved in the Romanian Chamber of Deputies to the League of Albanians of Romania.
The Albanian Declaration of Independence was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six days later the Assembly of Vlorë formed the first Government of Albania which was led by Ismail Qemali and the Council of Elders (Pleqnia).
Dervish Hima (1872–1928), born Ibrahim Mehmet Naxhi, was a 19th-century Albanian politician and one of the delegates who participated at the Albanian Declaration of Independence. A publisher, he travelled from country to country, promoting Albania with articles and pamphlets.
Kristo Meksi was an Albanian politician of the early 20th century. He was one of the delegates of Albanian Declaration of Independence and also one of the first Albanian diplomats.
Eqrem Bey Vlora was an Albanian lord, politician, writer, and one of the delegates to the Assembly of Vlorë, which proclaimed the Albanian Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912. He is described as The Last of Beys, the embodiment of the Albanian aristocracy of the time, although he came from a caste founded on the principles of Ottoman military fief.
The Republic of Central Albania was a short-lived unrecognised state established on 16 October 1913, with its administrative centre in Durrës, today in Albania.
The Albanian Vilayet was a projected vilayet of the Ottoman Empire in the western Balkan Peninsula, which was to include the four Ottoman vilayets with substantial ethnic Albanian populations: Kosovo Vilayet, Scutari Vilayet, Manastir Vilayet, and Janina Vilayet. In some proposals, it included the Salonica Vilayet as well. The creation of the Vilayet was confirmed in September 1912, but negotiations were interrupted a month later in October by the beginning of the First Balkan War. Plans for an Albanian Vilayet were lost with the Partition of Albania.
The Albanian Congress of Trieste was a congress of Albanians held in Trieste, Austria-Hungary in the period between 27 February – 6 March 1913, organized by Faik Konica and Sotir Kolea with strong support from the Austrian authorities.
The All-Albanian Congress, Albanian National Congress, or Albanian Independence Congress was a held in Vlorë on November 28, 1912. Congress participants constituted the Assembly of Vlorë which established Albanian Provisional Government and elected Ismail Qemali as its president.
Nikolla bey Ivanaj or Nikollë Ivanaj was an Albanian journalist, publisher and writer from Montenegro. He was considered one of the "distinguished personalities of the most conscious Albanian nationalism" and was included in Albanian insurgents' main staff during 1911. Ivanaj was the first Albanian writer from Montenegro with his work The flower of eternity published in Tirana in 1943.
Juan Pedro Aladro y Kastriota (1845–1914), known as Aladro Kastrioti by Albanians, born Juan de Aladro de Perez y Valasco, was a Spanish nobleman, diplomat, and pretender of the throne of Albania. He claimed descent from the Kastrioti family through his paternal grandmother, a noblewoman that lived during the era of Charles III. He was referred as Don Aladro.
Bajazid Elmaz Doda was an Albanian ethnographic writer and photographer. He is the author of the book Albanisches Bauerleben im oberen Rekatal bei Dibra (Makedonien) , written in Vienna in 1914, as well as of numerous rare early-20th-century photos of Albanian-inhabited lands during the period when they belonged to the Ottoman Empire, especially of Upper Reka, his birthplace region. The fossil turtle species Kallokibotion bajazidi was named after him by his lover Franz Nopcsa.
