In the “Murat Çelepi” neighborhood of Berat, Vexhi Buharaja was born, a writer, translator, historian, and “Teacher of the People”. He completed his primary education in his hometown. He continued his studies at the General Madrasah in Tirana, where he graduated in 1940. Immediately after graduation, at the age of 20, he was employed in the magazine “Islamic Culture” editorial office in Tirana. In 1944, he left Tirana due to the difficult circumstances of the war and stayed with his family in Berat. In 1947, he was arrested and sentenced to 8 years in prison on the charge of propaganda against the communist government of Albania, but he was released by decree after serving 2 years and 2 months in prison. After he got out of prison, he was forced to do hard physical labor to survive. In 1965, he was admitted to the medieval history department at the Institute of History in Tirana, where he collected, translated into Albanian and transcribed about three hundred Turkish-Ottoman-Arabic inscriptions. He wrote the study “Turkish-Arabic inscriptions in our country as historical evidence” based on this material. He has translated a number of materials from the period of the Albanian National Renaissance, such as the acts and memoranda of the Albanian League of Prizren, the manifesto “Ujanallem” (“To wake up”, 1899), authored by Dervish Hima, his correspondence with Dr. Ibrahim Temon (64 letters), which is included in the third volume (1900-1908) of the “Rilindja Kombëtare Shqiptare” (Albania National Renaissance). In addition to historical documents, he also translated other scientific and literary works from Turkish and Persian, such as the scientific works of Hoxha Hasan Tahsini, the drama “Besa” by Sami Frashëri, the poetic collection “Tahajjulat/ Ëndërrimet” (Dreams) (Pristina, 1972 ; Tirana, 2007, 2012), “Katër stinët” (4 seasons) (Tirana, 1995, 2007) by Naim Frashëri, “Gjylistani and Bostani” by Saadi Shirazi (Tirana, 1960; Pristina, 1974; Tirana, 1988, 2003, 2007, 2008) . In 1975, he was expelled from the Institute of History. On December 20, 1993, he was given the title “Teacher of the People” (posthumously), and on July 6, 1994, the city library of Berat was renamed to “Vexhi Buharaja” library. His name is still carried today by the madrasa of the city as well. (In the photo: Vexhi Buharaja)
Text: Encyclopedic dictionary of victims of communist terror – Vol. I , “West Print”, Institute for the Study of Crimes and Consequences of Communism, Tirana, 2012, page 206.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vexhi_Buharaja
Graphic processing: AHCF
