Ismail Qemali

Prime Minister of Albania

Ismail Kemal Bey Vlora 24 January 1844 Vlorë, Ottoman Empire

26 January 1919(1919-01-26) (75) Perugia, Kingdom of Italy

4 December 1912 – 22 January 1914

Albanian politician Ismail Qemal bej Vlora (Albanian:  ( listen ) ; 24 January 1844 – 26 January 1919) was an Albanian diplomat, politician, rilindas, statesman and the Founder of modern Albania. The principal author of the Declaration of Independence, he subsequently served as the first Prime and Foreign Minister of Albania during the period from 1912 to 1914. Born and raised in Vlorë into a wealthy Tosk family, Qemali developed an early interest in languages and mastered French, Greek, Italian and Ottoman Turkish in Ioannina and later studied law in Istanbul. He travelled across Europe, particularly Belgium, France, England and Italy, and returned to Albania after the Young Turk Revolution.