There are many bonds of true friendship between the Croatian and the Albanian people. Milan Shufflay is one of the most lasting and most inspiring ones. Shufflay was a Croatian patriot, a politician, a historian and scientist by vocation - and a great friend to the Albanian nation. He was outspoken and fearless. For his convictions he was ready to pay the highest of prices. Due to his passionate patriotism, in the first Yugoslav state – the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes that was founded in 1918 – Shufflay was persecuted and sentenced to 3.5 years of prison. He was released before serving the entire sentence, due to pressure by international scientific circles.
An aristocrat by birth, Shufflay was born in Lepoglava, Croatia, on 9 November 1879. He was fortunate to be born into a family that was able to provide him proper education fostering his many talents. He studied history and classical philology at the University of Zagreb and was a polyglot in his own right, a linguistic genius beyond doubt. He was in command of an impressive number of languages, including Albanian of course. He got a Ph. D. in history at the University of Zagreb as well, with additional specialisation in Vienna and Budapest in the history of the Balkans. His scientific work was focused on the medieval history of Croatia - and the history of the Albanian people.
Next to the unwavering love for his homeland and people, he was particularly passionate about the Albanian people and the research of Albanian history. Shufflay"s contribution to Albanology remains one of his most formidable legacies and a genuine testimony to the friendship between Croatian and Albanian people.
Together with Ludwig von Thallóczy and Konstantin Jirecek, Shufflay published two volumes of the so called “Codex albanicus”, an archival collection entitled “Acts and Diplomatic Affairs illustrating the Middle Ages in Albania“. The first volume was published in Vienna in 1913, and the second one in 1918. Both volumes cover the period from 344 to 1406.
In 1916 Shufflay published “Biology of the Albanian Genetic Tree” and „The conditions in churches in the pre-Ottoman Albania“.
In 1924 he published two books on Albanian history – „History of the Northern Albanians“ and „Towns and Fortresses of Albania, Primarily during the Middle Ages“.
A year later, in 1925 he published „Serbs and Albanians: Their Symbiosis during the Middle Ages“.
After the Albanian Government and the Academy of Sciences in Vienna contracted Shufflay to write all by himself the 3rd volume of the “Codex albanicus”, he started receiving threats from the Greater Serbian circles because of his commitment to the research of Albanian history. Ignoring the threats, in 1931 Shufflay travelled to Albania to sign another contract with the Albanian Government - this time on writing the “Acta Albaniae”.
Under the protection of the then Yugoslav monarchy, the Greater Serbian circles decided to act in order to stop Shufflay from further research of Albanian history. Soon after returning from Albania, on 18 February 1931 he was savagely attacked by Serbian radicals who ambushed him in Zagreb, at his very doorstep, breaking his skull with a hammer. The attackers then broke into Shufflay’s apartment and stole the manuscript of the 3rd volume of the “Codex albanicus”. Shufflay died the very next day, on 19 February 1931. The authorities even refused to investigate the murder.
The international intellectual community was in shock at the news of Milan Shufflay"s murder. Albert Einstein and Heinrich Mann appealed to the International League for Human Rights and to the international scientific and cultural community to protest against the murder of Milan Shufflay. On 6 May 1931, their appeal made it even to the front page of the New York Times that was explicitly accusing the Yugoslav King Alexander I of complicity in the crime.
Shufflay’s intellectual fearlessness, his human dignity and courage were admirable and will always be inspiring. He was most remarkable both as a human being and a scholar.
For his huge contribution to the affirmation of the Albanian people in the historical literary spectrum, in 2002 Shufflay was granted by the Albanian Government the prestigious award "Naim Frasheri d"or", during the scientific conference "Shuflaj dhe Shqiptarët" on his work and contribution to Albanian studies that was held in Tirana. Both in Tirana and in Durres a street is named after Milan Shufflay to honour his memory.
Milan Shufflay and his legacy will always be a powerful bond between the Croatian and the Albanian peoples. Croatia is proud of him and his accomplishments. The Croatian authorities are highly appreciative of Shufflay’s enormous contribution to a better understanding of the Albanian history. Even the discovery of the Statute of Drisht dating back to 1460, on the street bookstands in Vienna in 1930, is attributed to him.
He was versatile as a writer as well. In 1920, under the pseudonym of Alba Limi he published a historic novel titled “Kostadin Balšic (1392-1402)”, which is another testimony to his profound knowledge of Albanian people, customs and history.
In his extraordinary intellectual excellence, Shufflay proved to be visionary as well - namely in the first Croatian science fiction novel “Na Pacifiku god. 2255.“ (“At the Pacific in year 2255”) that was published in 1924 under the pseudonym of Eamon O"Leigh. Due to this novel he has been considered the founder of the Croatian science fiction literature. In this very novel he foresaw the Second World War, the increase of global temperatures and climate change, eruption of feminism, the increase of drug and other stimulants addiction, vegetarianism, GMO etc.
Any effort and undertaking to keep up the memory of the life and work of Milan Shufflay is truly appreciated and most necessary - in order to remind all of us of the need to respect each other, and to keep reminding the nations in the region of the need to promote mutual respect and friendship between peoples.
Jelica Krišto, Counsellor
Embassy of the Republic of Croatia to the Republic of Albania
http://www.balkanweb.com/site/trashegimia-e-miqesise-se-milan-shuflait-mes-kroateve-dhe-shqiptareve/
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