Naim bey Frashëri, more commonly Naim Frashëri (; 25 May 184620 October 1900), was an Albanian historian, journalist, poet, translator, and one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian National Awakening. Regarded as a pioneer of modern Albanian literature and one of the most influential Albanian cultural icons of the 19th century, he was proclaimed as the national poet of Albania.
Frashëri's works explored themes such as freedom, humanity, unity, tolerance and revolution. His twenty-two works consist of fifteen works written in Albanian as well as four in Turkish, two in Greek and one in Persian. He is considered to be the most representative writer of Sufi poetry in Albanian, and having been under the influence of his uncle Dalip Frashëri, he reflected a mingling of Sufism with Western philosophy in his poetical ideals. He had an extraordinarily profound impact on Albanian literature and society during the 20th century, most notably on Asdreni, Gjergj Fishta and Lasgush Poradeci, among many others.
Ti Shqipëri, më jep nder, më jep emrin Shqipëtar ("You Albania, you give me honour, you give me the name Albanian"), a memorable line in his poem O malet e Shqipërisë, has been designated as the national motto of Albania. It speaks to unity and freedom and it embodies in its words a sense of pride towards the country and people.
Life
Family
300px|thumb|The family house of Naim Frashëri in [[Frashër.]]
Naim Frashëri was born on 25 May 1846 into a wealthy Albanian family of religious belief affiliated with the Bektashi tariqa of Islam, in the village of Frashër in what was then part of the Ottoman Empire and now Albania. He, Abdyl and Sami were one of eight children of Halid Frashëri (1797–1859), a landowner and military commander and Emine (1814–1861).
Naim and his brothers Abdyl and Sami were born and raised in the village of Frashër at the southern slopes of the Tomorr Mountains. He became acquainted with numerous cultures and languages such as Arabic, Ancient and Modern Greek, French, Italian, Ottoman Turkish and Persian. He was one of the few men to whom the literary culture of the Occident and Orient was equally familiar and valuable. The education there provided Naim with the basics of a classical education along Western lines. Apart from languages he learned in the Zosiamaia (Ancient and Modern Greek, French and Italian), Naim took private lessons in Persian, Turkish and Arabic from two important local Bektashi.
After he finished his studies in 1870, Frashëri worked for a few months at the press office in Istanbul (1870) but was forced to return to his home village because of tuberculosis. The climate of Frashër helped Naim and soon he started work in the Ottoman bureaucracy as a clerk in Berat and later in Saranda (1872–1877). However, in 1876 Frashëri left the job and went to Baden, in modern Austria to cure his problems with rheumatism in a health resort. Ottoman authorities forbid writing in Albanian in 1885 which resulted in publications being published abroad and Frashëri used his initials N.H.F. to bypass those restrictions for his works. Later on, Albanian schools were established in 1887 in Southeastern Albania.
An Albanian magazine, Drita, appeared in 1884 under the editorship of Petro Poga and later Pandeli Sotiri with Naim Frashëri being a behind-the-scenes editor as it was not allowed by Ottoman authorities to write in Albanian at that time. In a letter to Faik Konitza in 1887, Frashëri expressed sentiments regarding the precarious state of the Ottoman Empire that the best outcome for Albanians was a future annexation of all of Albania by Austria-Hungary.
In 1900 Naim Frashëri died in Istanbul. During the 1950s the Turkish government allowed for his remains to be sent and reburied in Albania.
Career
Works
With its literary stature and the broad range of both stylistic and thematic content, Frashëri significantly contributed to the development of the modern Albanian literary language. The importance of his works lies less in his creative expression than in the social and political intention of his poetry and faith. His works were noted by the desire for the emergence of an independent Albanian unity that overcomes denominational and territorial differences, and by an optimistic belief in civilization and the political, economic and cultural rise of the Albanian people.
In his poem Bagëti e Bujqësi, Frashëri idyllically describes the natural and cultural beauty of Albania and the modest life of its people where nothing infringes on mystical euphoria and all conflicts find reconciliation and fascination.
Frashëri saw his liberal religion as a profound source for Albanian libration, tolerance and national awareness among his religiously divided people. He, therefore, composed his theological Fletore e Bektashinjet which is now a piece of national importance. It contains an introductory profession of his faith and ten spiritual poems granting a contemporary perspective into the beliefs of the sect. Himself a Bektashi, he desired purity of the Albanian language and had attempted in his lifetime to Albanianise hierarchical terms of the order in his work Fletore e Bektashinjët which called for an Albanian Bektashism. His poem Bagëti e Bujqësi celebrated the natural beauty of Albania and the simple life of Albanian people while expressing gratitude that Albania had bestowed upon him "the name Albanian".
Numerous organizations, monuments, schools, and streets had been founded and dedicated to his memory throughout Albania, Kosovo as well as to a lesser extent in North Macedonia and Romania. His family's house, where he was born and raised, in Frashër of Gjirokastër County is today a museum and was declared a monument of important cultural heritage. It houses numerous artefacts including handwritten manuscripts, portraits, clothing and the busts of him and his brothers Abdyl and Sami.
Frashëri's portrait is depicted on the obverses of the 500 lek banknote from 1992 to 1996 and since 1996 on the 200 lekë banknote. On the reverse side of the bill is a picture of his family house in Frashër. The Albanian nation has established an order of merit that bears his name which was awarded to, amongst others, the Albanian nun and missionary Mother Teresa.
Gallery
<gallery mode="packed">
File:ALB0036ar.jpg|Frashëri (up right) on the reverse of a 1964 10 Lekë banknote
File:ALB0057ao.jpg|Frashëri on the obverse of a 1994 500 Lekë banknote
File:ALB0071-2012o.jpg|Frashëri on the obverse of a 2012 200 Lekë banknote
File:Albania-200.jpg|Frashëri on the obverse of 2017 200 Lekë polymer banknote
</gallery>
See also
- List of Albanian writers
- Albanian Renaissance
- League of Prizren