Assassinated by Avni Rustemi, in Paris, Esat Pashë Toptani, a political activist who worked against national interests. Esat pashë Toptani was born in Tirana, in 1863. As the commander of the reserve forces of Central Albania fighting for the defense of Shkodra (1912–1913), after the treacherous murder of the commander Hasan Riza, organized by him, in April 1913 he handed over the city to the Montenegrin forces. He was appointed minister in the Provisional Government of Vlora (July-August 1913). On October 12th, 1913, Esat Toptani raised the Eldership in Durrës and opposed the Provisional Government of Vlora. In 1914, he headed the delegation that went to Germany to offer Vilhelm Vid the throne of Albania. Being the Minister of War and Internal Affairs in Vilhelm Vid’s government, he sabotaged the resistance and popular struggle for the liberation of South Albania from the Greek forces and its union with the Albanian state. In May 1914, he left for Italy, under the pressure of the government of Vilhelm Vid and the democratic forces. After returning to Albania, in October 1914, he established his power in Durrës. In November 1914, he faced the uprising that started against him. Surrounded in Durrës by the insurgents, for nearly seven months, he escaped thanks to the intervention of the Serbian army that invaded Central Albania. In the summer of 1915, he signed an agreement with the Belgrade government, to the detriment of the Albanian state’s political independence and territorial integrity. From 1916, Esat Toptani continued his political activity in exile, declaring himself as Albania’s representative at the Paris Peace Conference (1919). He was assassinated in 1920. (In the photo: Esat Pashë Toptani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2728-2729.
Photo: © http://www.albanianhistory.net/1919_Toptani/index.html
Graphic processing: AHCF
