Robert Elsie speaking about his new book, “The Cham Albanians of Greece”, presented at a reception held at the Travellers Club on Pall Mall in London (UK) on 26 April 2013.
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Sir Geoffrey Nice, deputy prosecutor at the trial of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague, speaking at The Travellers Club in London during the presentation of the book “The Cham Albanians of Greece”.
The Photo Collection of Paul Siebertz
Albania in 1909
In 1909 the German journalist and author, Paul Siebertz (1877-1954), undertook a trip through the mountains of northern Albania and soon thereafter published the volume “Albanien und die Albanesen: Landschafts- und Charakterbilder” (Albania and the Albanians: Landscape and Character Pictures), Vienna 1910, from which the present photo collection is taken.
The Photo Collection of Richard Busch-Zantner
Albania in 1939
German scholar and social geographer, Richard Busch-Zantner (1911-1942) was a promoter of social geography. It is from his work, based on a journey through Albania in 1939, after the country’s occupation by fascist Italy, that this photo collection is taken.
Newly Discovered Photo of Franz Nopcsa!
This photo, taken by the Austro-Hungarian court photographer Carl Pietzner of Brünn/Brno in about 1905-1907, shows the young Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877-1933) in northern Albanian costume. Franz Nopcsa was soon to become a leading figure in Albanian studies.
The Photo Collection of Cham Refugees
Albania in 1945
These photos were taken in 1945 at Cham refugee camps in Albania by members of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). They are preserved in the United Nations Archives.
In a last-ditch appeal, Bedri Pejani writes to Heinrich Himmler seeking support for an “Albanian army” to oppose the communists advancing in Kosovo.
Description of the old bazaar of Shkodra a century ago, before its destruction.
Appeal by the anti-communist Besa Kombëtare organization in Kosovo in late October 1945, sent to Brigadier General Hodgson, head of the British Military Mission in Albania.
Short report of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace concerning the Serbian invasion of Kosovo during the First Balkan War, 1912.
The Austro-Hungarian explorer and travel writer, Karl Steinmetz, ventured into the remote valley of Theth, but a dispute between the native tribesmen forced him to change his travel plans.
Song of the Ottoman Foot Soldier
I must leave you, fellows, leave you,
Beyond the Bridge o’er to the Kaaba.Convey my greetings to my mother,
Those two oxen, let her sell them.Those two oxen, let her sell them,
With a new bride I’ve contracted.Should my mother ask about me,
Tell her I have just been married.Should she ask what guests attended,
Tell her two dervishes and hodjas.Should she ask you who the bride was:
In my chest the seven bullets.Should she ask you who was feasting:
Blackbirds, ravens at the pickings.
[Mbeçë, more shokë, mbeçë,
translated from the Albanian by Robert Elsie.]
Audio (in Albanian)
YouTube.com/…
Some Observations on Albanian and Bosnian Epic Traditions.
Now published in: Bardhyl Demiraj (ed.): Aktuelle Fragestellungen und Zukunftsperspektiven der Albanologie. Akten der 4. Deutsch-Albanischen kulturwissenschaftlichen Tagung “50 Jahre Albanologie an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München” (23.-25. Juni 2011, Gut Schönwag bei Wessobrunn). Albanische Forschungen, Bd 32 (Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2012), p. 367-373.
