Murad Toptani

Murad Toptani was an Albanian Franciscan friar, folklorist and poet. He was born in Akyaka, Turkey in 1867, in a middle class Muslim family, son of Seit Toptani, a political prisoner and activist of the League of Prizren. He studied theology in Istanbul, where he also participated in the Albanian National Awakening movement. He returned to Tirana and worked as a teacher and an imam. He was involved in several nationalist and cultural activities, such as the Congress of Elbasan, the Congress for National Unity, and the publication of various newspapers and journals. He wrote many works on Islam, such as Texhvidi, Ilmihali, Besimet e muselmanëve, Dhanti e Ramazanit, and Ajka e kuptimeve të Kur'ani Qerimit. He also translated some of the classics of Russian literature, such as Tolstoy, Turgenev, Chekhov, and Gorky. He was arrested and imprisoned by the communist regime in 1914, due to his political and religious views. He died in jail on 11 February 1918. [1](^2^) [2](^3^) [3](^4^)