Eqrem Vlora

Eqrem Vlora was born on 1 December 1885, in Vlorë, Ottoman Empire (today Albania), to Syrja Bey Vlora, a diplomat and politician, as well as a member of one of the wealthiest landowning families of the South Albania, and Mihri Vlora (née Toptani), member of one of the prominent families of Central Albania, the Toptani family. [1](^1^) His uncle, Mehmed Ferid Pasha, who was his father's older brother served as Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. [1](^1^) He was related both to Ismail Qemali and also to his main political opponent Esad Pasha, who were both his first cousins from his father's and mother's side respectively. Eqrem grew up in his hometown and received his first lessons from private teachers, given the fact that his family was relatively wealthy not only in the region but throughout Janina Vilayet. According to his memoirs written later while living in Austria, he writes that his first teachers were Luigi Beccali, an Italian from Messina, and Mehmet Effendi Lusi who served as imam in Kaninë, a nearby town. The latter taught him theology, a subject that was essential for the children of families with such status in the Ottoman provinces. [1](^1^) He was educated at the Theresianum in Vienna, 1899–1903, and studied law and religion in Istanbul, 1904. After working for the Ottoman Foreign Ministry for a time, including a three-month tour of duty at the Ottoman embassy in St. Petersburg in 1907, [1](^1^) and years of travel in Europe, Albania and the Orient, he joined his uncle Ismail Qemali in the movement for Albanian independence. During these travels he met some of the most important personalities of the time, including Herbert Kitchener, Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf, several Arab sheikhs [1](^1^) who would become the monarchs of the Arab countries and also a young lieutenant, Mustafa Kemal, who would eventually become the president of Turkey. According to Vlora's memoirs, members of his family were de facto (not de jure) sanjakbeys of Sanjak of Avlona in period 1481–1828. [1](^1^) In mid-October 1912, Vlora arrived in Vienna after being sent on a mission by Albanian notables of middle and south central Albania to seek support from Austro-Hungarian officials regarding Albania's future and its borders especially along the Kalamas river and the inclusion of Chameria up to Preveza. [2](^2^) He was one of the delegates to the Assembly of Vlorë, which proclaimed the Albanian Declaration of Independence on November 28, 1912. He was also elected as the vice-president of the Senate of Albania, the highest legislative body at the time. [1](^1^) He served as a diplomat and a senator in the following years, representing Albania in various international conferences and negotiations. He was also a scholar and a writer, who published several books and articles on Albanian history, culture, and politics. He wrote his memoirs in six volumes, covering the period from 1878 to 1939, which are considered as valuable sources for the study of Albanian history. [1](^1^) He also wrote a novel, The Last of Beys, which depicts the life and struggles of the Albanian aristocracy in the late Ottoman era. [3](^3^) He died on 30 March 1964, in Vienna, Austria, where he had lived since 1939. He was buried in the Zentralfriedhof, the largest cemetery in Vienna. [1](^1^)