Qemal Butka

Qemal Butka
Mayor of Tirana
In office 21 October 1935 – 7 November 1936
Personal details
Born	1907 Butkë, Ottoman Empire
Died	November 28, 1997 (Aged 90) Tirana, Albania
Nationality	Albanian
Profession	Architect

Qemal Butka (1907 – November 28, 1997) was an Albanian architect, painter, politician, and postage stamps engraver. He was mayor of Tirana from 1935-1936 but departed from Albania in 1939 to live in Turkey and the United States. He is also known for projecting several monuments and buildings in Albania.

Qemal Butka was born in 1907 in the village of Butkë, Ottoman Empire, now in the Kolonjë District, modern Albania. His father was killed during World War I, and he was raised by his uncle and Albanian patriot, Sali Butka. His cousin Safet Butka, Sali's son, took him to Austria while he was studying there. Qemal finished his secondary education in Austria and in 1931 he graduated from Vienna University of Technology, with the title of architect engineer.

While a high school student, Butka endeavored in painting; he worked on two well known paintings of Ismail Qemali and of Bajram Curri in 1927, and also on a postcard with the theme of respecting religions.

In 1931, upon graduation, Butka returned to Albania and worked mostly on architectural projects. Because of his talent, Zog of Albania declared him the winning architect of the international competition which decided who would design the memorial dedicated to Sadijé Toptani, Zog's mother, who had died in 1934. The monument, located in what is now in the Tirana Park on the Artificial Lake, was destroyed by the Communist government in the 1950s. A replica was built in 2012 to serve as the Mausoleum of the Albanian Royal Family.

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