Murat Toptani, sculptor, poet and Renaissance patriot, was born in Aka (Caucasus), the son of the patriot Said Sheremedin Toptani. His activity was carried out mainly in Tirana and in Albanian societies abroad (Istanbul, Naples, Bucharest, etc.). He kept in touch with the Frashëri brothers (he was the son-in-law of Naim Frashëri) and with other patriots of the time. He signed the Act of Declaration of Independence (1912) as a delegate of Tirana. The bust of Skanderbeg that Murat Toptani worked in Naples in 1899 is one of the first sculptural creations in our Renaissance art. He also made several other works in sculpture, painting and caricatures with a patriotic theme. A bust of Skanderbeg (bronze) from 1917 and the caricature “Premtimet e Anglisë” (The Promises of England) (watercolor) are preserved in the National Art Gallery. Murat Toptani also wrote poems and journalistic articles. Part of the poems were collected in the book “Vjershat e Murat Toptanit” (The Poems of Murat Toptani) (Tirana, 1924). He passed away in Tirana in 1917. (In the photo: Murat Toptani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2729.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murad_Toptani
Graphic processing: AHCF
