Oliver Jens Schmitt
| Oliver Jens Schmitt | |
|---|---|
| Born |
15 February 1973 (age 44) Basel, Switzerland |
| Nationality | Swiss |
| Occupation | historian |
| Known for | a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and expert on Medieval Albania |
Oliver Jens Schmitt (born 15 February 1973 in Basel) is a professor of South-East European history at Vienna University since 2005. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
His book Skanderbeg. Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, a critical biography of George Castrioti-Skanderbeg, caused a hot debate in Albania. A Swiss national daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger published Schmitt's interview given to Enver Robelli in Tirana on 25 February 2009, in which it is emphasized that Schmitt claims that Skanderbeg's mother Voisava was Serbian, a member of the Branković family and that the Kastrioti surname probably is derived from Greek word kastron (fort). He was accused of committing sacrilege and sullying the Albanian national honor.Ardian Klosi, who translated his book from German to Albanian, was accused of treason.
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