Vrioni family

The Vrioni family is one of the great aristocratic and one of the biggest landowner families of Albania, otherwise known as "Konaqe" or "Oxhaqe", among which the most important are: Vrioni of Berat and Fier, Vloraj of Vlora, Toptani of Tirana, Biçakçinjtë of Elbasan, Dino of Ioannina and Preveza, Vërlaci of Elbasan, Bushatllinjtë of Shkodra, Këlcyrajt of Këlcyra, Markagjonët of Mirdita, etc. Insignia titles held by members of these families, usually Pasha or Bey, corresponded to the assigned positions in the Ottoman administration, central or local, which are given by Ferman or Berat (Decrees) by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire.

Numerous sources claim,that the Vrioni are descendants of the Palaeologan Byzantine dynasty, emerging as the Byzantine Emperors around the mid 11th century. After the dissolution of the Byzantine Empire,the Palaeologan emerged as sovereign princes of the various principalities and have extended across Europe: in Venice or Rome, in Russia or in France. Under the influence of the Ottomans a part of Palaeologan turned Muslims. In his "Journey through Greece", Pouqueville, a former consul general of France near Ali Pasha of Ioannina, mentions one Vrioni predecessor, Omar Pacha Vrioni (the first), as the successor of one of the branches of this dynasty. Aravantinos asserts the same thing also in his "Chronography of Epirus". These latter sources show that the Vrioni appeared in Janina Vilayet mid seventeenth century as Timarli Sipahi, exactly in the Berati area

Since its beginnings the family appears integrated in the Ottoman administration and this tradition continued until the last days of the Ottoman Empire in the Albanian lands. Omer Pacha Vrioni (the first) counted as one of the most famous Ottoman's Empire Generals during the early-nineteenth century, who distinguished himself in the Egyptian battles against Napoleon and in the siege of Messolonghi. However, it is an undeniable fact, that the Vrioni have been among the most prominent Albanian patriots. Their patriotic contribution, often put them in a conflict of interest not only among each other but also with the Sublime Porte, which did not hesitate to exile, "the case of Mehmet Ali Pasha Vrioni", members of this family.The patriotic contribution intensified with Mehmet Ali Pasha Vrioni, who was a member of the Central Committee for the Protection of the Rights of Albanians , Ioannina Committee, Society of Istanbul and eventually Vice President of the League of Prizren in 1878, whose member and was also Omer Pasha Vrioni II.

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