Murat Toptani

Murat Toptani
Born	1867 Caucasus, Ottoman Empire
Died	1918 (aged 50–51) Tirana, Albania
Occupation	Poet, artist and political activist
Known for	Albanian Declaration of Independence

Murat Toptani (1867–1918) was an Albanian poet, artist and activist of the Albanian National Awakening.

Along with his relative Abdi Toptani he became one of the signatories of Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912.

As a sculptor, Toptani created the first bust of George Kastrioti Skanderbeg, the national hero of Albania.

He was born in 1867 in the Caucasus Mountains, where his father Seit was interned as a political prisoner.

From 1875 to 1881, their family lived in Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Empire, but they settled again in the Caucasus Mountains, where Seit was again interned because of his membership in the League of Prizren.

In the early 1890, he studied in Istanbul, where he lived in Naim Frashëri's house. There he met his future wife Asije Frashëri, daughter of Sherif Frashëri, younger brother of Naim.

In 1895, he married Asije Frashëri and moved to Tirana, where he later died, age 50–51, in 1918. His three sons were: Enver, Sherif and Ibrahim.

Toptani's younger brother Refik was the head of the local branch of Bashkimi in Tirana. His sister Vesime was married to Mehmet Frashëri, another brother of Naim Frashëri.

In Tirana, Toptani was active in the promotion of education in Albanian. In 1897, he successfully requested the instruction of all lessons in Albanian in the newly founded Austrian school of the city. His activities and influence led to his arrest on 28 October 1897 by the Ottoman authorities.

Initially he was interned in Manastir and later in Galipoli, from where he was sent to Tripoli. In 1898, he escaped and migrated to Italy, where he settled in Naples and Brindisi. On 14 July 1898, he protested against his sentence and requested amnesty from the wali of Manastir, but did not receive any reply.

...
Wikipedia