Ismail Qemali | |
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1st President of Albania | |
In office 29 November 1912 – 22 January 1914 |
|
Preceded by | Independence declared |
Succeeded by | Prince William of Wied |
1st Prime Minister of Albania | |
In office 29 November 1912 – 22 January 1914 |
|
Preceded by | Independence declared |
Succeeded by | Fejzi Bej Alizoti |
1st Foreign Minister of Albania | |
In office 4 December 1912 – June 1913 |
|
Preceded by | None |
Succeeded by | Myfit Libohova |
Personal details | |
Born |
Vlorë, Albania |
16 October 1844
Died | 24 January 1919 Perugia, Italy |
(aged 74)
Occupation | Politics, Literature |
Ismail Qemal Bej Vlora ( listen ; 16 October 1844 – 24 January 1919), commonly Ismail Qemali, was a member of the Albanian national movement. As founder of Independent Albania, he served as its first President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the first government of Albania until January 1914, when he was forced to step aside by the International Commission of Control established by the six Great Powers.
Ismail Qemal Vlora was born to a noble family in the city of Vlorë. Having finished the primary education in his hometown, and the high school Zosimea in Janina, in 1859 he moved to Constantinople where he embarked on a career as an Ottoman civil servant, being identified with the liberal reform wing of the service under Midhat Pasha, and was governor of several towns in the Balkans. During these years he took part in efforts for the standardization of the Albanian alphabet and the establishment of an Albanian cultural association.