Fan S. Noli
Encyclopedia
Theofan Stilian Noli, better known as Fan Noli (January 6, 1882 – March 13, 1965) was an Albanian-American
writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church
, who served as prime minister and regent of Albania
in 1924.
Fan Noli is venerated in Albania as a champion of literature, history, theology, diplomacy, journalism, music and national unity. He played an important role in the consolidation of Albanian
as the national language of Albania with numerous translations of world literature masterpieces. His contribution to the English-language literature are also manifold: as a scholar and author of a series of publications on Skanderbeg
, Shakespeare, Beethoven, religious texts and translations.
He acquired his education at Harvard and was ordained priest in 1908, establishing thereby the Albanian Church and elevating the Albanian language to ecclesiastic use. He briefly resided in Albania after the 1912 declaration of independence. After World War I, Noli led the diplomatic efforts for the reunification of Albania and received the support of U.S. President Wilson
. Later he pursued a diplomatic-political career in Albania, successfully led the Albanian bid for membership in the League of Nations
.
A respected figure who remained critical of corruption and injustice in the Albanian government, Fan Noli was asked to lead the 1924 June Revolution. He then served as prime minister until his revolutionary government was overthrown by Ahmet Zogu. He was exiled to Europe and permanently settled in the United States in the 1930s, acquiring U.S. citizenship and agreeing to end his political involvement. He spent the rest of his life as an academician, religious leader and writer.
, Greece, Alexandria
, Egypt, and Odessa
, Russia, and supporting himself as an actor and translator. He knew 13 foreign languages. Through his contacts with the Albanian expatriate movement, he became an ardent supporter of his country's nationalist movement, and moved to Boston in 1906 in order to mobilize the Albanian emigrant community. At that time, in Boston some Albanian Christian
s were part of the Greek Orthodox Church
, which was vehemently opposed to the Albanian nationalist cause. When a Greek Orthodox priest refused to perform the burial rites for Kristaq Dishnica, a member of the Albanian community from Hudson, Massachusetts
because of his nationalist activity, Noli and a group of Albanian nationalists in New England
created the independent Albanian Orthodox Church. Noli, the new church's first clergyman, was ordained as a priest
in 1908 by a Russian Orthodox bishop in the United States. In 1923, Noli was consecrated as a bishop
for the Church of Albania.
organization, which effectively made him leader of the Albanian diaspora. His diplomatic efforts in the United States and Geneva
won the support of President Woodrow Wilson for an independent Albania, and in 1920 earned the new nation membership in the fledgling League of Nations. Though Albania had already declared its independence in 1912, membership in the League of Nations provided the country with the international recognition it had failed to obtain until then.
In 1921 Noli entered the Albanian parliament as a representative of the liberal Vatra party, the chief liberal movement in the country. He served briefly as foreign minister in the government of Xhafer Ypi
. He was consecrated in 1923 as the senior Orthodox bishop of the newly-proclaimed Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
. This was a period of intense turmoil in the country between the liberals, represented by Vatra, and the conservatives, led by prime minister Ahmet Zogu. After a botched assassination attempt against Zogu, the conservatives revenged themselves by assassinating another popular liberal politician, Avni Rustemi. Noli's speech at Rustemi's funeral was so powerful that liberal supporters rose up against Zogu and forced him to flee to Yugoslavia
(March 1924). Zogu was succeeded briefly by his father-in-law, Shefqet Vërlaci, and by the liberal politician Iliaz Vrioni
; Noli was named prime minister and regent on July 17, 1924.
of that year. Two weeks later, Zogu returned to Albania, and Noli fled to Italy under sentence of death.
He moved back to the United States in 1932 and formed a republican opposition to Zogu, who had since proclaimed himself King Zog I. Over the next years, he continued his education, studying and later teaching Byzantine music
, and continued developing and promoting the autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church he had helped to found. While in exile, he briefly allied with King Zog, who fled Albania before invading Italians in 1939, but was unable to set a firm anti-Axis, anti-Communist front.
After the war, Noli established some ties with the communist government of Enver Hoxha
, which seized power in 1944. He unsuccessfully urged the U.S. government to recognize the regime, but Hoxha's increasing persecution of all religions prevented Noli's church from maintaining ties with the Orthodox hierarchy in Albania. Despite the Hoxha regime's anticlerical bent, Noli's ardent Albanian nationalism brought the bishop to the attention of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
. The FBI's Boston office kept the bishop under investigation for more than a decade, with no final outcome to the McCarthyite
probe.
In 1945, Fan S. Noli received a doctor's degree in history from Boston University
. His dissertation was titled Scanderbeg in the Light of Archive Materials. In his dissertation Noli used documents written by "Anonymous of Antivari" forged by Giammaria Biemmi
. In the meantime, he also conducted research at Boston University Music Department, publishing a biography on Ludvig van Beethoven. He also composed a one-movement symphony called Scanderbeg in 1947.
Toward the end of his life, Noli retired to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
, where he died in 1965. The branch of the Albanian Orthodox Church that he had governed eventually became the Albanian Archdiocese
of the Orthodox Church in America
.
Fan S. Noli is depicted on the obverse
of the Albanian 100 lekë
banknote issued in 1996.
Albanian-American
Albanian Americans are United States citizens of full or partial Albanian ancestry. Although according to data from a 2008 Survey of the United States Government, there are 201,118 Americans of full or partial Albanian descent.-Emigration History:...
writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church
Albanian Orthodox Church
The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. It declared its autocephaly in 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937....
, who served as prime minister and regent of Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...
in 1924.
Fan Noli is venerated in Albania as a champion of literature, history, theology, diplomacy, journalism, music and national unity. He played an important role in the consolidation of Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
as the national language of Albania with numerous translations of world literature masterpieces. His contribution to the English-language literature are also manifold: as a scholar and author of a series of publications on Skanderbeg
Skanderbeg
George Kastrioti Skanderbeg or Gjergj Kastrioti Skënderbeu , widely known as Skanderbeg , was a 15th-century Albanian lord. He was appointed as the governor of the Sanjak of Dibra by the Ottomans in 1440...
, Shakespeare, Beethoven, religious texts and translations.
He acquired his education at Harvard and was ordained priest in 1908, establishing thereby the Albanian Church and elevating the Albanian language to ecclesiastic use. He briefly resided in Albania after the 1912 declaration of independence. After World War I, Noli led the diplomatic efforts for the reunification of Albania and received the support of U.S. President Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
. Later he pursued a diplomatic-political career in Albania, successfully led the Albanian bid for membership in the League of Nations
League of Nations
The League of Nations was an intergovernmental organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference that ended the First World War. It was the first permanent international organization whose principal mission was to maintain world peace...
.
A respected figure who remained critical of corruption and injustice in the Albanian government, Fan Noli was asked to lead the 1924 June Revolution. He then served as prime minister until his revolutionary government was overthrown by Ahmet Zogu. He was exiled to Europe and permanently settled in the United States in the 1930s, acquiring U.S. citizenship and agreeing to end his political involvement. He spent the rest of his life as an academician, religious leader and writer.
Origin
Noli was born in the Albanian community of Ibrik Tepe, Eastern Thrace, as Theofanus Stylianos Mavromatis. As a young man Noli wandered throughout the Mediterranean Basin, living in AthensAthens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece, Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt, and Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Russia, and supporting himself as an actor and translator. He knew 13 foreign languages. Through his contacts with the Albanian expatriate movement, he became an ardent supporter of his country's nationalist movement, and moved to Boston in 1906 in order to mobilize the Albanian emigrant community. At that time, in Boston some Albanian Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s were part of the Greek Orthodox Church
Church of Greece
The Church of Greece , part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, is one of the autocephalous churches which make up the communion of Orthodox Christianity...
, which was vehemently opposed to the Albanian nationalist cause. When a Greek Orthodox priest refused to perform the burial rites for Kristaq Dishnica, a member of the Albanian community from Hudson, Massachusetts
Hudson, Massachusetts
Hudson is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,063 at the 2010 census. The town is located in central Massachusetts, about a 40-minute drive, or about , west of Boston, and about a 20-minute drive, or about , northeast of Worcester.Before its...
because of his nationalist activity, Noli and a group of Albanian nationalists in New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
created the independent Albanian Orthodox Church. Noli, the new church's first clergyman, was ordained as a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
in 1908 by a Russian Orthodox bishop in the United States. In 1923, Noli was consecrated as a bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
for the Church of Albania.
Political activities
In 1908, Noli began studying at Harvard, completing his degree in 1912. He returned to Europe to promote Albanian independence, setting foot in Albania for the first time in 1913. He returned to the United States during World War I, serving as head of the VatraVatra
Vatra may refer to several villages in Romania:* Vatra, a village in Hudeşti Commune, Botoşani County* Vatra, a village in Troianul Commune, Teleorman Countyand a town in Moldova:* Vatra, a town in the Municipality of Chişinău-Other:...
organization, which effectively made him leader of the Albanian diaspora. His diplomatic efforts in the United States and Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
won the support of President Woodrow Wilson for an independent Albania, and in 1920 earned the new nation membership in the fledgling League of Nations. Though Albania had already declared its independence in 1912, membership in the League of Nations provided the country with the international recognition it had failed to obtain until then.
In 1921 Noli entered the Albanian parliament as a representative of the liberal Vatra party, the chief liberal movement in the country. He served briefly as foreign minister in the government of Xhafer Ypi
Xhafer Ypi
Xhafer Bej Ypi , a Bektashi Muslim, was an Albanian politician.Ypi's parents were Asilan and Zavalani.He was educated at a university in Istanbul.In 1920-1921 he was Minister of Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice...
. He was consecrated in 1923 as the senior Orthodox bishop of the newly-proclaimed Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania
The Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Albania is one of the newest autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches. It declared its autocephaly in 1922, and gained recognition from the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1937....
. This was a period of intense turmoil in the country between the liberals, represented by Vatra, and the conservatives, led by prime minister Ahmet Zogu. After a botched assassination attempt against Zogu, the conservatives revenged themselves by assassinating another popular liberal politician, Avni Rustemi. Noli's speech at Rustemi's funeral was so powerful that liberal supporters rose up against Zogu and forced him to flee to Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
(March 1924). Zogu was succeeded briefly by his father-in-law, Shefqet Vërlaci, and by the liberal politician Iliaz Vrioni
Iliaz Vrioni
Iliaz Vrioni was an Albanian politician and land owner. He served as Prime Minister of Albania three times.- Biography :Iliaz Vrioni, was born in 1882 in Berat, Province of Ioannina of the Ottoman Empire and died in Paris in 1932. Member of the great Bey family of Berat, Fier and Myzeqe, formerly...
; Noli was named prime minister and regent on July 17, 1924.
Downfall and exile
Despite his efforts to reform the country, Noli's "Twenty Point Program" was unpopular, and his government was overthrown by groups loyal to Zogu on Christmas EveChristmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
of that year. Two weeks later, Zogu returned to Albania, and Noli fled to Italy under sentence of death.
He moved back to the United States in 1932 and formed a republican opposition to Zogu, who had since proclaimed himself King Zog I. Over the next years, he continued his education, studying and later teaching Byzantine music
Byzantine music
Byzantine music is the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Greek and foreign historians agree that the ecclesiastical tones and in general the whole system of Byzantine music is closely related to the ancient Greek system...
, and continued developing and promoting the autocephalous Albanian Orthodox Church he had helped to found. While in exile, he briefly allied with King Zog, who fled Albania before invading Italians in 1939, but was unable to set a firm anti-Axis, anti-Communist front.
After the war, Noli established some ties with the communist government of Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...
, which seized power in 1944. He unsuccessfully urged the U.S. government to recognize the regime, but Hoxha's increasing persecution of all religions prevented Noli's church from maintaining ties with the Orthodox hierarchy in Albania. Despite the Hoxha regime's anticlerical bent, Noli's ardent Albanian nationalism brought the bishop to the attention of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. The FBI's Boston office kept the bishop under investigation for more than a decade, with no final outcome to the McCarthyite
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
probe.
In 1945, Fan S. Noli received a doctor's degree in history from Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. His dissertation was titled Scanderbeg in the Light of Archive Materials. In his dissertation Noli used documents written by "Anonymous of Antivari" forged by Giammaria Biemmi
Giammaria Biemmi
Giammaria Biemmi was an Italian priest who published a work on Skanderbeg titled Istoria di Giorgio Castrioto Scanderbeg-Begh. His work was published in Brescia, Italy in 1742....
. In the meantime, he also conducted research at Boston University Music Department, publishing a biography on Ludvig van Beethoven. He also composed a one-movement symphony called Scanderbeg in 1947.
Toward the end of his life, Noli retired to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
, where he died in 1965. The branch of the Albanian Orthodox Church that he had governed eventually became the Albanian Archdiocese
Orthodox Church in America Albanian Archdiocese
The Albanian Orthodox Archdiocese in America is one of three ethnic dioceses of the Orthodox Church in America . Its territory includes parishes, and missions located in seven states in the United States – California, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, and...
of the Orthodox Church in America
Orthodox Church in America
The Orthodox Church in America is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in North America. Its primate is Metropolitan Jonah , who was elected on November 12, 2008, and was formally installed on December 28, 2008...
.
Fan S. Noli is depicted on the obverse
Obverse and reverse
Obverse and its opposite, reverse, refer to the two flat faces of coins and some other two-sided objects, including paper money, flags , seals, medals, drawings, old master prints and other works of art, and printed fabrics. In this usage, obverse means the front face of the object and reverse...
of the Albanian 100 lekë
Albanian lek
The lek is the official currency of Albania. It is subdivided into 100 qindarka , although qindarka are no longer issued.-Names:...
banknote issued in 1996.
Poems
The following poems where written by Fan Noli :- Hymni i Flamurit
- Thomsoni dhe Kuçedra
- Jepni për Nënën
- Mousiu në mal
- Marshi i Krishtit
- Krishti me kamçikun
- Shën Pjetrin në Mangall
- Marshi i Barabbajt
- Marshi i Kryqësmit
- Kirenari
- Kryqësmi
- Kënga e Salep-Sulltanit
- Syrgjyn-vdekur
- Shpell' e Dragobisë
- Rent, or Marathonomak!
- Anës lumejveAnës lumejveAnës lumejve is a poem by Fan S. Noli, in which the history of Albania is described. It was written by Fan S. Noli in the Albanian language-Poem:The poem was released in 1928:...
- Plak, topall dhe ashik
- Sofokliu
- Tallja përpara Kryqit
- Sulltani dhe kabineti
- Saga e Sermajesë
- Lidhje e paçkëputur
- Çepelitja
- Vdekja e Sulltanit
Further reading
- O.S. Pearson, Albania and King Zog, I.B. TaurisI.B. TaurisI. B. Tauris is an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York.-History:I.B.Tauris was founded in 1983. Its declared strategy was to fill the perceived gap between trade publishing houses and university presses—that is, to publish serious but accessible works on international...
. 2005 (ISBN 1-84511-013-7).