The Turkish historian Nexhip Alpan has written a historical book about the founder of the Albanian state, Ismail Qemali.
Though extracted from the archives and are authentic documents, these data have not yet been published in the official biography of Ismail Qemali.1- Ismail Qemali's birthday coincides with that of Enver Hoxha. Until the 1990s, the official text of Albanian history, the Encyclopedic Dictionary, but also in other memoirs, Ismail Qemali did not have a date of birth but was marked only in 1846.
Turkish historian Alpan says the exact birthday of Ismail Qemali is October 16, 1846.
2 - Real Name: Another curiosity from the life of the founder of the state is that in all documents of the time he is called Ismail Bey Vlora and not Ismail Qemali, or Ismail Bej Qemali.
However, Ismail Qemali seems to have gained the right of citizenship, as in this way is found in almost all official history books.
3- Marriages and Children: Ismail Qemali married twice. For the first time with a widow from Konica, who died at birth with his daughter, the second time married in 1886, with Kleoniqi Surmeli, daughter of a Greek nobleman from the province of Edirne.
Ismail Qemali was forced to abduct the second wife, because the laws prevented the marriage of a Muslim to an Orthodox. By the second marriage, Ismail Qemali had 9 children, three daughters and six sons. The girls were called Myvedet, Aliya, Ylvie. The boys were Mahmud Bey, Tahir Bey, Et'hem Bey, Xhevdet Bey, Qazim Bey and Qami Bey.
4 - Polyglot: Ismail Qemali knew eight languages: Albanian, Ottoman, Turkish, Old Greek, Latin, French, Italian, Slavic.
5 - Death, suspicious: Ismail Qemali died in mysterious circumstances in Perugia, Italy, a few moments before giving a press conference. To date there is, in fact, a final variation of his death, but doubts have always been cast. It is thought he was poisoned. The corpse of Ismail Qemali was held in Perugia for two weeks after his death, with the idea of embalming. But that added even more suspicions of poisoning after the internal organs have been removed, by erasing thus any sign of autopsy.
6 - Flag That Raises: There have been discussions and it is still not resolved which flag was set up on November 28, 1912 on the balcony of Vlora's historic home. One variant is that the flag was embroidered by Marigo Pozio, a bride in the house where Ismail slept last night; another variant is that the flag was brought by Spiridon Ilo from USA; while the third version is Eqrem bey Vlora, according to which the flag was given by Aleadro Kasstriota, the husband of a princess who claimed to be the successor to Skanderbeg.
7- Photo Symbol: The photo symbol of the Declaration of Independence has remained that of December 1, 1912. To date there is no photograph from the moment of the Declaration of Independence on 28 November 1912.
8 - Independence Document: The original document of the Declaration of Independence was not found. The one who is, is a copy of Lef Nosi, who was the Minister of Post-Telegraph in the first Albanian government .
9 - How Much Time Remained In Power: Ismail Qemali, as prime minister and first president in the history of the Albanian state that stood at the helm of the government from 28 November 1912 to 22 January 1914, ie, 12 months and 56 days.
10: The Bones: At first, Ismail Qemali's embalmed corpse was buried according to his wish in the city of Canina. The burial ceremony took place on February 12, 1919, on Wednesday. After 13 years of resting in the Castle of Kanina, the lifeless body of the first Prime Minister of the Albanian state was sent down to Vlora on the date marked on November 28, 1932, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the declaration of independence.
The body of Ismail Qemali was placed in the place where is still now, in the "Flag Square" in Vlora. The monumental tomb of Ismail Qemali has the image of "Flamurtari", a work of the remarkable sculptor Odise Paskali.