In London, Aubrey Herbert, English political personality, popularizer, and defender of the Albanian issue in the international arena, passed away. He was born in 1880. From 1904 to 1917 he traveled through the Albanian lands, from north to south, got to know the Albanian people, learned Albanian and tried to support the Albanians in difficult moments for their national issue. At the time of the Declaration of Independence, the creation of the independent Albanian state and the initiation of efforts to stabilize it, in 1913 Aubrey Herbert created the Anglo-Albanian Committee in London, which he led for many years together with the secretary of this committee, Edith Durham. In this capacity, he devoted himself to the protection of the rights of the Albanian nation for an independent state and for the unification of its lands. He provided valuable assistance during the years of World War I. He was appointed “honorary delegate” of the “Vatra“ (“Hearth”) Federation in Europe since 1916 and at the Peace Conference in Paris (1919). In favor of the Albanian cause, he published many materials in the European press and intervened in European international institutions, especially with the English governors. In 1924, his book “Ben Kendim” (“Myself”) was published, in which aubrey Herbert wrote entire sections about the characteristics and values of the Albanian people. On May 17, 1924, the National Assembly of Albania (Constitutional Assembly) observed a moment of silence in his honor. He is decorated with the silver “Naim Frashëri” order. (In the photo: Obrej Herbert)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 909.
Graphic processing: AHCF
