Hasan Tahsini, a figure of the National Renaissance, philosopher, and scholar in various fields of science such as astronomy, mathematics, psychology, etc., passed away in Istanbul. He was born in the village of Ninat in Çamëria (Saranda) in 1811. He received his early education in his hometown and continued his schooling at one of the most renowned madrasas in Istanbul. Due to the breadth of his knowledge and intellectual abilities, he was appointed as the first rector of the newly established University of Istanbul in 1870. He conducted research in various fields of natural sciences, which he presented in numerous articles and scientific books in the Turkish language, including “Psychology” and “Foundations of Astronomy.” The knowledge and data contained in these books were among the most advanced for the time and earned their author the reputation of a distinguished scholar in the Ottoman Empire. Hasan Tahsini’s activities aimed at spreading scientific knowledge, which contradicted the views of the state and religious authorities of the time, attracted attention; he was dismissed from his position as rector and expelled from the university. Hasan Tahsini was one of the most active participants in the National Renaissance. He understood that one of the most important areas of the struggle for the liberation of Albania and the elevation of the Albanian people was the development of the Albanian language and the dissemination of knowledge in this language. For this purpose, since the 1860s, in collaboration with other patriots such as Kostandin Kristoforidhi, he began to think and act towards the creation of societies that would work to spread knowledge among Albanians and to develop a new Albanian alphabet. His project for the Albanian alphabet with 30 consonants and vowels, devised in the early 1870s, is well known. Hasan Tahsini was exiled and imprisoned for his patriotic activities by fanatics and backward-minded individuals, but he never wavered from his scientific convictions and his path towards the development of culture and the affirmation of the national demands of the Albanian people. (In the photo: Hasan Tahsini)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2653.
Photo: © https://www.zaninalte.al/
Graphic processing: AHCF
