The Academy celebrates half a century as a state-forming and emancipatory institution

Five years after the establishment of the University of Pristina, the then Kosovo Assembly passed a law, through which the then autonomous Province was made an Academy of Sciences and Arts. Since then, for 50 years, the Kosovo Academy of Arts and Sciences has been the main scientific institution in the country. In these five decades, the ASHAK was a pillar of Kosovo society and later of the state. Circumstances led to this institution also having a state-forming role beyond what is similar to academies that are consolidated after the creation of states.

In the late 60s and early 70s, Albanian society in Kosovo had begun a faster march towards educational and cultural emancipation, and development was gaining momentum. Five years after the establishment of the University of Pristina, the then Kosovo Assembly approved the law, through which it made the then autonomous Province an Academy of Sciences and Arts. Since then, for 50 years, the Kosovo Academy of Arts and Sciences has been the main scientific institution in the country. In these five decades, the ASHAK has been a pillar of Kosovo society and then of the state. Circumstances have led to this institution also having a state-forming role beyond what is typical of academies that are consolidated after the creation of states. On Wednesday, 10 days before its 50th anniversary, the Academy marked and celebrated its first half-century through a solemn ceremony.

The history of the Academy is closely linked to the history of the state.

The President of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts, Mehmet Kraja, said that the establishment of the Academy was preceded by several circumstances of social and political developments in the country. According to him, the Academy was launched at the time and circumstances of the expansion of Kosovo's autonomy within the former Yugoslavia during the increase in the decision-making powers of the legislative bodies of the Province. 
"Despite being founded in the best years of autonomy, in its composition, publications and work program until 1990, the Academy of Kosovo failed to become either national or independent. It was a Yugoslav academy with a national composition, if not completely discriminatory, then disproportionately so, always to the detriment of the Albanian majority, with work programs aimed at Yugoslav integration, with fewer publications in the Albanian language and with scientific research work clearly unaffirmative for Kosovo," said Kraja. The 90s, when Albanian society in Kosovo lived under Serbian occupation, he described them as difficult. After mentioning some of the Academy's achievements in a quarter century of free Kosovo, academic Kraja said that the challenges continue. 

"The biggest challenges of the Academy of Kosovo remain further consolidation and institutional independence. Its history is closely linked to the history of the state of Kosovo, being not only a supporter of all political processes that have led Kosovo towards independence, but sometimes also the originator of these movements of interest to society and its educational and cultural emancipation," he said. According to Krajë, this specific role of the Academy for advanced knowledge and more dynamic emancipation of Kosovar society has made the Academy a close ally of the state and its institutions.

The Academy as a protector of culture and developer of science

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The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, in her speech said that the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts is the center where political thought was shaped and the institution where ideas were born, which gave direction, meaning and foundation to the state. According to her, for five decades, Kosovo academics have worked in extremely difficult circumstances from time to time, but the goal was to protect the language, culture, and above all the national interest.

"They have contributed to political, educational and cultural formation and have connected our country to world centers of knowledge, they have articulated ideas that gave meaning to our path towards a society of values ​​and a modern state integrated into Euro-Atlantic institutions," said President Osmani.

He mentioned Esad Mekuli as a scholar who established the Academy as an institution where free speech and thought became the foundation of cultural identity, and Gazmend Zajmi as an irreplaceable contributor to establishing the legal foundations of the state.

"Fifty years of the Academy's existence are proof of the power of knowledge. Because when we talk about knowledge, we talk about the state. There can never be a strong state without strong science, just as there can be no modern society without academics who lead free, critical and far-sighted thought. The Academy is among the institutions that give the state its very substance," she said. According to President Osmani, historians, linguists and researchers are guardians of accuracy in an era where information is endlessly disseminated, but the truth often remains rare. 

"Academics are the interpreters, but also the defenders of this truth. And, the defenders of a future in a time when technology moves faster than imagination, they therefore bear the burden of responsibility to orient knowledge towards the values ​​and ethics that make a stable and free society," she said, among other things.

"Always political"

Meanwhile, the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, in his speech went back in time. He said that since Helena Peshkopia, who on June 25, 1678 defended her doctoral thesis, becoming the first woman in the world with a doctorate in philosophy, and to the erudite Sami Frashëri, who in the 19th century published the second encyclopedia in the world, among Albanians there have always been island people, but also circles that have produced and circulated knowledge among themselves and with others. But in various world encyclopedias, a Helena Peshkopia is not recognized. The first documented doctorate is known as the Venetian Elena Cornaro Piscopia. Then, acting Prime Minister Kurti came to Mesihi from Pristina, the prominent poet who, according to him, once accompanied Michelangelo to Istanbul, who also left a pure poetic work, just as Pjetër Bogdani, with his letters, reports and works, left a series of prophetic voices about the Albanian time and situation in the 17th century. Then, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti came to a debate that, according to him, will never be settled: that between politics and science.

"Since the founder of the academy, Plato, and his most prominent student of science, Aristotle, one author of the "Republic" and the other author of the "Politics", academia and politics have traveled together. Science and the arts and power with the state vibrate among themselves between forums and battlefields, because scientific knowledge and art, being in public immanence, are always political," he said. He then moved on to the questions of the German idealist philosopher, Immanuel Kant: What can I know?; What should I do?; and What can I hope for? 

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"In the half-century history of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts, thousands of answers to these questions can be read, because in the history of ASHAK, the history of science and arts in Kosovo, of thought and action, ethical, aesthetic and political, is also written. Because the former and current members of this academy have created and published hundreds of works and thousands of scientific, philosophical and artistic papers, which they have received and given, from this country and from all over the world, with the people of this society and towards them and other peoples", he said. He also left a message for the academics.

"And in our time, when hybrid wars, artificial intelligence and geopolitical tensions have taken off, and where Western democracy and human rights are under attack like never before, academies must be busy like rarely before," said Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Resistance scientists 

The President of Albania, Bajram Begaj, in his speech said that Kosovo had a valuable history and heritage of ancient knowledge before the building and institution that operates there took shape. 

"Today, on this anniversary, we remember and honor this heritage with deep gratitude. The leaders of the Albanian school, the professors of the normal school, the first Albanian researchers and Albanologists, tens of hundreds of scientists with dedication and sacrifice worked to keep Albanian education, language and culture alive," said Begaj. According to him, thanks to them, the Albanian culture, language, history and national identity in Kosovo managed to survive and flourish. 

"Therefore, we celebrate this 50th anniversary by also honoring dozens and hundreds of personalities of knowledge and art, who with their work, talent and integrity created the foundations of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts," said President Begaj. 

Meanwhile, the president of the Albanian Academy of Sciences, Skënder Gjinushi, said that the Kosovo Academy was born in difficult times, as a necessary and inevitable need. He mentioned that both academies are now working together on the major project for the Albanian Encyclopedia. But there was also a request. 

"We live in a time when European integration is the strategic project of our society and of both our countries. The integration process requires knowledge and investments in scientific research. European research must be accompanied by integration in science. Today's competition at the regional and global level is permeated by the use of artificial intelligence. With its 50-year experience, the Academy of Kosovo has the experience to be a leader in facing Kosovo in new challenges", said Academician Gjinushi. 

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The solemn ceremony was also addressed by Marie Louise Nosch, Vice President of ALLEA, Peter Štih, President of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubiša Stanković, President of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts, Živko Popov, President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of North Macedonia, Lidija Lincender-Cvijetić, Vice President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Massimo Della Valle, National Academy of Lincei, and Lucian Brujan, Coordinator of the Berlin Process for Education, Science and Innovation.