Nexhmie Zaimi
Encyclopedia
Nexhmie Zaimi was a noted Albanian American author and journalist.
in Albania, and left the room. This would not be the last rebelious act for Nexhmie.
Nexhmie was one of the first six (along with her brother Mehmet) to attend high school in Albania
, run by American Presbyterian missionaries. While a teenager in Albania, her traditional family tried to force her into marriage. She ran away from Albania and became the first female from Albania to achieve a higher education at Wellesley College. She soon became an American citizen.
While attending Columbia University
's Graduate School of Journalism in New York City
, she married Henry M. Margolis
, an attorney and businessman, in the 1940s. They divorced in the early 1950s. She had one son, Eric Margolis
.
During World War II
, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS) (predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency
). After the war, she took a very active role in Albanian-American affairs, becoming president of the Pan Albanian Association, Vatra. She aided Albanian immigrants and helped support her family in Albania.
In the early 1950s, she was one of the first American female journalists to report from the Middle East. She interviewed Egypt's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser
, Anwar Sadat
, and Jordan
's King Hussein
. She was also one of the first journalists to write and lecture widely about the Palestinian refugees, whose plight was virtually unknown at the time in the United States. She delivered a study to the US State Department in which she warned that unless the problem of the Palestinian refugees was resolved, it would blow up in America's face in fifty years. It would be exactly fifty years later that 9/11 struck America. Her broadcasting and speaking careers were terminated after the newspapers for whom she wrote were pressured into dropping her writing, and constant threats were made against her life and that of her young son.
During this period, Mrs Zaimi came down with severe glaucoma and other eye ailments that crippled her and prevented her from writing another book. She worked for the Albanian community in New York and New Jersey
, translating at the New York Criminal Courts, and engaging in community activities and helping war refugees in Europe. She also lived for periods in Paris
, Rome
, Geneva
, and Cairo
. She was a strong voice in the US against Albania's Communist regime. Her Manhattan home was constantly filled with journalists, artists, writers, diplomats, UN personnel, and visitors from Europe and the Mideast. Due to the onset of blindness, Nexhmie Zaimi reluctantly left New York in the 1980s and moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California. In her late 80s, she took over the care of three children from Kosovo who had been gravely injured by accident in a NATO airstrike. She continued to write her second book until her death. Remaining proud and defiant to the end, in 2003, her body finally gave out.
In Albania and New York, she was widely known as "the First Lady of Albania". Italy had made her a `Knight Commander of the Crown of Italy.'
Early life and marriage
In Albania, when Zaimi was twelve and half years old, her father visited her in her bedroom and proceeded to tell her that she would have to begin wearing a veil whenever she went out of the house. When he handed her the veil, without saying a word, she opened the window and threw the beautiful scarf onto the neighbours roof where it remained for several days. Her father, angry, called her a "wild goat", the equivalent of tomboyTomboy
A tomboy is a girl who exhibits characteristics or behaviors considered typical of the gender role of a boy, including the wearing of typically masculine-oriented clothes and engaging in games and activities that are often physical in nature, and which are considered in many cultures to be the...
in Albania, and left the room. This would not be the last rebelious act for Nexhmie.
Nexhmie was one of the first six (along with her brother Mehmet) to attend high school in 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...
, run by American Presbyterian missionaries. While a teenager in Albania, her traditional family tried to force her into marriage. She ran away from Albania and became the first female from Albania to achieve a higher education at Wellesley College. She soon became an American citizen.
While attending Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
's Graduate School of Journalism in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, she married Henry M. Margolis
Henry M. Margolis
Henry M. Margolis was a New York industrialist, theatrical producer, and philanthropist.Margolis was born on New York's Lower East Side. He worked his way through City College of New York and New York University Law School, and was admitted to New York Bar...
, an attorney and businessman, in the 1940s. They divorced in the early 1950s. She had one son, Eric Margolis
Eric Margolis
Eric S. Margolis is an American-born journalist and writer. For 27 years, ending in 2010, he was a contributing editor to the Toronto Sun chain of newspapers, writing mainly about the Middle East, South Asia and Islam. He contributes to the Huffington Post and appears frequently on Canadian...
.
Work and publications
In 1938, her autobiographical book Daughter of the Eagle was published and became a national best-seller.During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, she worked for the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS) (predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
). After the war, she took a very active role in Albanian-American affairs, becoming president of the Pan Albanian Association, Vatra. She aided Albanian immigrants and helped support her family in Albania.
In the early 1950s, she was one of the first American female journalists to report from the Middle East. She interviewed Egypt's leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of...
, Anwar Sadat
Anwar Sadat
Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981...
, and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
's King Hussein
Hussein of Jordan
Hussein bin Talal was the third King of Jordan from the abdication of his father, King Talal, in 1952, until his death. Hussein's rule extended through the Cold War and four decades of Arab-Israeli conflict...
. She was also one of the first journalists to write and lecture widely about the Palestinian refugees, whose plight was virtually unknown at the time in the United States. She delivered a study to the US State Department in which she warned that unless the problem of the Palestinian refugees was resolved, it would blow up in America's face in fifty years. It would be exactly fifty years later that 9/11 struck America. Her broadcasting and speaking careers were terminated after the newspapers for whom she wrote were pressured into dropping her writing, and constant threats were made against her life and that of her young son.
During this period, Mrs Zaimi came down with severe glaucoma and other eye ailments that crippled her and prevented her from writing another book. She worked for the Albanian community in New York and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, translating at the New York Criminal Courts, and engaging in community activities and helping war refugees in Europe. She also lived for periods in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, 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...
, and Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
. She was a strong voice in the US against Albania's Communist regime. Her Manhattan home was constantly filled with journalists, artists, writers, diplomats, UN personnel, and visitors from Europe and the Mideast. Due to the onset of blindness, Nexhmie Zaimi reluctantly left New York in the 1980s and moved to a retirement community in Santa Barbara, California. In her late 80s, she took over the care of three children from Kosovo who had been gravely injured by accident in a NATO airstrike. She continued to write her second book until her death. Remaining proud and defiant to the end, in 2003, her body finally gave out.
In Albania and New York, she was widely known as "the First Lady of Albania". Italy had made her a `Knight Commander of the Crown of Italy.'