21 Facts About Faik Konica

Faik Bey Konica was an important figure in Albanian language and culture in the early decades of the twentieth century.

Faik Konica wrote little in the way of literature, but he was an influential stylist, critic, publicist and political figure in Albanian culture.

Faik Konica finished his studies at Harvard University in the United States, although little is known of this period of his life.

Albanian publications were published abroad as the Ottoman Empire forbid the writing of Albanian and like other Albanian writers of the time Faik Konica used a pseudonym Trank Spiro Bey, named after a Catholic Ottoman figure Trank Spiro, to bypass those conditions for his works.

Faik Konica contributed bitingly sarcastic articles on what he saw as the cultural backwardness and naivety of his compatriots, stressed the need for economic development and national unity among Muslim and Christian Albanians and opposed armed struggle.

Faik Konica endeavored to enrich Albanian vocabulary through words of the people and folklore raising the ability of Albanian to treat complex and difficult topics, unparalleled among other Albanian-language publications of the time.

Faik Konica published the works of Albanian writers of the time like Aleksander Stavre Drenova, Andon Zako Cajupi, Filip Shiroka, Gjergj Fishta, Kostandin Kristoforidhi, Thimi Mitko and so on.

Faik Konica assured Ippen that he and his friends believed that Albania should be in political and military union with Austria.

Faik Konica viewed Italo-Albanians as Italian citizens who would have difficulty going against Italian interests while at the same time supporting the conflicting goal of Albanian autonomy or independence and refused to cooperate with them.

Italo-Albanians criticized his pro-Austrian position, while Faik Konica defended it on grounds that Austria encouraged Albanian national and linguistic expression among Catholic Albanians in its schools unlike Italy.

The Young Turks had a hostile view of Albanian leaders such as Faik Konica who were doing political activities with the assistance of outside powers.

Faik Konica was unable to attend the Albanian Alphabet Congress of 1908, due to receiving his invitation late, something which he considered was done on purpose.

The lunches were so long that I could not visit a single museum in London, as we would always arrive when the doors closed, and the attention and care with which Faik Konica edited his articles meant that the journal always came out very late.

Faik Konica went to Boston in the autumn of 1909 where he took over as chief-editor of Dielli newspaper, published by Besa-Besen society, a political-cultural organization of Albanian-American diaspora.

Faik Konica was a close collaborator of Fan Noli and one of the main figures in Vatra's and Dielli history.

On 17 November 1912, Vatra held a mass gathering in Boston and Faik Konica was the main speaker rallying the Albanian diaspora in the US to oppose any partition of Albania, due to the Balkan Wars.

Faik Konica was disappointed by the Austro-Hungarian authorities and Ismail Kemal personally, after Kemal's approval for the creation of an Austro-Italian bank.

Faik Konica was one of the main organizers of the Albanian Congress of Trieste in 1913.

Faik Konica carried this duty until 1939 when Fascist Italy invaded Albania.

Faik Konica was a harsh critic of King Zog's decision to abandon Albania on the eve of the Italian invasion.

Faik Konica died in Washington, DC, on 15 December 1942 and was buried in Forest Hills Cemetery in Boston.