Aleks Buda was born in Elbasan, a personality of Albanian historiography and culture in the second half of the 20th century, the first president of the Academy of Sciences of Albania (1972-1993), Teacher of the People. He was born into a well-known intellectual family. He completed primary school in Lecce (Italy), secondary school in Salzburg (Austria), higher studies at the Faculty of Philosophy (philosophy-literature branch) of the University of Vienna (1929–1935). Then (1939-1943) he worked as a teacher in the High School of Tirana and Korça. He participated in the National Liberation Anti-Fascist Movement; in 1944 he was elected vice president of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council of Elbasan district. He was one of the organizers of the Institute of Sciences, where he headed the Department of History and Sociology and helped to establish the Departments of Archeology and Ancient History, Medieval History, Modern History, Medieval Art, Ethnography, etc. With the formation, in 1955, of the Institute of History and Linguistics, Aleks Buda, as one of its organizers and the most experienced scientific workers, founded the department of medieval history and thus laid the foundations of Albanian medieval studies. With the establishment of the University of Tirana (1957), Aleks Buda became one of the founders of the Albanian history chair and the Albanian history course at the Faculty of History and Philology. As the president of the Academy of Sciences of Albania since its establishment (1972) and as a researcher with comprehensive cultural, historical, linguistic, archaeological, ethnographic, medieval art, etc. training, Aleks Buda made a valuable contribution to the organization of research-scientific work, especially in the field of albanology, orienting scientific research in the study of the history of the Albanian nation, in particular the ancient history, the medieval history and the National Renaissance. Aleks Buda conceived the collective work “Historia e Shqipërisë“ (“History of Albania”) (vol. I-II, 1959, 1965), a completely new work both in terms of content and breadth of treatment, as well as in terms of the scientific criteria of construction and observation of the historical process; he is also co-author and co-editor of the new edition of “Historia e Shqipërisë“ (“History of Albania”) (vol. II, 1984), co-author of “Historia e popullit shqiptar“ (“History of the Albanian people”), vol. II, 2002. He provided valuable assistance in the scientific leadership (chief editor) of the “Fjalori enciklopedik shqiptar” (“Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary”) (1985). Aleks Buda has represented Albanian historical science in international conferences and congresses, such as those of the Association of Southeast European Studies, the World Association of Historians, etc., in which he addressed problems of the history of the Albanian people, highlighting the historical features of the development of Albania compared to other Balkan countries and the mutual relations of Albanians with other peoples. He received the “Award of the Republic” of the First Class, he was decorated with the “Order of Freedom” of the First Class and the “Order of the Flag of Labor” of the First Class. The President of the Republic of Austria decorated him with the “Great Medal of Gold” (1990). Aleks Buda has been a deputy in the People’s Assembly in several legislatures (since 1950), and a member of the General Council of the Democratic Front of Albania. He passed away in 1993. (In the photo: Aleks Buda)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 315-316.
Graphic processing: AHCF
