Hasan Kalesh's contribution to the establishment of the Albanological Institute

Hasan Kaleshi (1922-1976), one of the first Albanians in the former Yugoslavia to receive a doctorate and be employed at universities, when he came to Pristina in 1967 to work in the Department of History at the Albanian Institute after its reopening, was a figure of known in scientific circles from Paris to Hamburg, and from Istanbul to Cairo (the first and only Albanian to become a member of the Academy of Sciences in Egypt, founded in 1932. In the first phase of the Albanological Institute from 1952 to in 1955 he was one of the main figures

Recently, we have many 100-year anniversaries of historical and scientific events and figures, which are promoted with state, institutional and family initiatives, etc. However, if the 100th anniversary was once only to glorify an event or a figure of the war (LNC) or the party (communist), now the 100th anniversary has a different meaning: the review and reevaluation of the event or the figure with no criteria of the war and the party (parties), but in the new historical context, in the light of declassified documents and new studies based on sources that brought results unknown until now.

Such is the case with the 100th anniversary of the scientist Hasan Kaleshi (1922-1976), one of the first Albanians in the former Yugoslavia to receive a doctorate and be employed at universities, who when he came to Pristina in 1967 to work in the Department of of History at the Albanological Institute after its reopening, he was a well-known figure in scientific circles from Paris to Hamburg, and from Istanbul to Cairo (the first and only Albanian to become a member of the Academy of Sciences in Egypt, founded in 1932 ).

Perhaps the new generation, born after 1990, does not know that Kalesi spoke 10 languages ​​(Albanian, Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian, Turkish, Ottoman, Arabic, Italian, French, German and English) and published original works in those languages ​​in scientific journals of the countries European and participated in many international conferences. Thanks to this, during 1949-1976, more than 350 works (studies, articles, reviews, critical views, etc.) were published in different languages. However, his sudden death in 1976, when he was at the peak of his scientific work, as well as the circumstances of the time, did not allow him to be given the importance he deserves. Thus, only after his death did his works begin to be reprinted or translated into Albanian, such as his original work for Dr. Ibrahim Temon that was published as a book in New York in 1982 until 2016 when a scientific conference was organized in Branch of Oriental Studies on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of his death.

From Kicevo to Belgrade

Hasan Kaleshi was born on 07.03.1922 in Srbica of Kicevo, in a family with a tradition of inherited knowledge, where the father Ahmed ef. Kalesi took care of his education by teaching him at home and at school. After finishing school in Kirčovo, he continued his studies in Skopje in the Great Madrasa (King Aleksandar) in 1939, where he was found there with young Albanians who later became figures in science and literature (Ali Sokoli, Idriz Ajeti, Hivzi Sulejmani, Vehap Shita, Meto Bajraktari, Zenel Hajdini, H. Zaimi, etc.). However, with the destruction of Yugoslavia in 1941, Kalesh and his friends moved to the "Sami Frashëri" school in Pristina, so now in "Greater Albania". After finishing his education, he returned to Kîçovo, which was also in "Greater Albania", where he worked for almost a year in the new administration as an Albanian-Italian translator.

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In 1945, with the reformation of Yugoslavia, H. Kaleshi went to Belgrade to continue his studies. After he knew Arabic and Turkish well, he enrolled in the Department of Oriental Studies, the first to be formed in the Balkans (1926), and also enrolled in the Department of Romance Studies as he had an interest in European literature. In 1951, he graduated in Oriental Studies and became an assistant in this department in 1952, which opened his way to Kosovo again.

Steps until the establishment of the Institute

Of course, here we are talking about the first phase of the Albanological Institute, from 1952 to 1955, which, barely, was later identified as its headquarters, which no longer exists. Indeed, the discovery of this first headquarters, as well as the founding documents of the Albanological Institute, became possible only with Nuridin Ahmet's monograph, "Albanological Institute 1953-1955" (Pristina, Albanological Institute 2020).

Thus, based on the documents published for the first time, it appears that with the initiative of the Eldership for Education and Culture in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija (KAKM) a gathering of linguists was held in Pristina on November 14-15, 1952, which proposed the establishment of a body that deals with the problems of Albanian language and literature in Kosovo. On the basis of this proposal, the Executive Council of the People's Council of KAKM decided on 30.03.1953 to establish the Institute for the Study of Albanian History, Language and Culture in QAKS and to appoint Elhami Niman as the director of this Institute. For the institutionalization of this body, the first working meeting was held at the Department of Albanology at the University of Belgrade on 8.07.1953, headed by E. Niman as the chairman of the Board of Education and proposed director of the Institute. In this working meeting, which was attended by V. Dançetovuq (Chairman of the Department), Selman Rizaj, E. Mekuli, Mr. Rexha, I. Ajeti, A. Rexha, H. Kaleshi (assistant in Oriental Studies), A. Çetta and others, it was discussed about the possible sections and cadres for "an Institute that will deal with Albanian studies". In this meeting, it was decided to form a commission of three members (V. Dançetović, Mr. Rexha and H. Kaleshi) for the drafting of the "Project Statute of the Albanian Institute".

The members of the Commission in question "after a series of meetings that were held in Pristina and Belgrade" presented (no date) the "first draft statute of the Albanian Institute" which was approved and, based on it, the Executive Council of the People's Council of the QAKS approved it on 29.07. 1953 the establishment of the Albanological Institute.

Here it is worth noting that the mentioned meeting at the Department of Albanology at the University of Belgrade proposed the drafting of several dictionaries, among which the "Literary Dictionary" with the drafters H. Kaleshi, A. Çetta and Martin Camaj. Likewise, after the start of the work, H. Kaleshi submitted a request in June 1954 to cover the expenses for the photocopying of Ottoman documents in Turkey that are related to Albanian history. The new director of the Institute, Selman Riza, allowed H. Kalesh 40 dinars for the photocopying of documents "to illuminate the history of the Albanians in Yugoslavia under the Ottoman rule", as well as for the copying of articles from Turkish newspapers "that have to do directly with specifically Albanian events". Based on it, H. Kaleshi stayed in Turkey for several months for research and on 19.12.1954 he notified the Institute of his return, promising "a detailed report on my work in Istanbul", that is, shortly before the Institute's dissolution. Unfortunately, according to N. Ahmet, this report was not found, so it is not known about the fate of the documents that were collected in Turkey with the financing of the Institute. As it seems, the decision to close the Institute was taken then, because the entire year 1955 passed without any activity, with only two articles by Kadri Halim that were published in "Rilindja", which reflected this situation, until the decision was announced in December 1955 with the signature of Fadil Hoxha as chairman of the Executive Council of the People's Council of KAKM.

With the dissolution of the Institute, H. Kaleshi remained in Oriental Studies and in 1960 when he defended his dissertation on the history of Kosovo and Western Macedonia during the Ottoman period, and later continued to work in Oriental Studies until 1965, when he resigned due to pressure Serbian nationalist and went to the University of Hamburg in Germany to major in Turkology. With the reopening of the Albanological Institute in 1967, he returned to work and distinguished himself with his original works that he published in "Albanological Traces", such as the one about Sami Frashër, which became a reference for anyone dealing with Sami Frashër. In 1970, with the establishment of the University of Pristina, H. Kaleshi moved to the Department of History until 1973 when he became head of the Department of Oriental Studies, which made a name for itself for a short time until his death (1973-1976).

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In those years, H. Kaleshi encountered the policy that imposed cadres in the name of war (LNC) and the party and resisted it until death, which deserves to be highlighted in another article.