Sami Frashërior Šemseddin Sami?

Abstract

As one of the most productive intellectuals of the late Ottoman Empire, Šemseddin Sami Frashëri (1850-1904) has been praised in both Turkish and Albanian historiographies in the twentieth century for his contributions either to Turkish or Albanian nation-building respectively. A self-taught linguist, novelist, journalist, encyclopaedist and lexicographer, it is revealing to discover that two different versions of his name have prevailed in the historiographies of the two countries: “Šemseddin Sami” in Turkey and “Sami Frashëri” in Albania. Although two other members of the Frashëri family (Abdyl and Naim) are accepted as two of the founders of Albanian nationalism by both sides, historians on each side have preferred to emphasize Sami's contributions to their own nation-building process and underestimate (or in the Turkish case even deny) his importance in the heritage of the other country. This article explores two different readings of Šemseddin Sami Frashëri as a historical figure – both of which mythologize him – through an examination of popular and academic historiographies in both countries. It aims at giving a short history of the processes by which Sami came to be mythologized as a 'national intellectual' in the historiography of socialist Albania (1945-1990) and modern Turkish historiography (from 1923 to the present). In particular, the discussion in the Turkish press of the 1940s and in subsequent academic studies refuting the claims of his Albanian nationalism is examined in order to show their categorical denial of a possibility that he could have been critical to the Turks and have advocated Albanian nationalism.