The National Historical Museum commemorated today the 81st anniversary of the death of Faik Konica, a writer, literary critic, publicist, essayist, translator, and one of the most distinguished personalities in Albanian culture, literature, and political life, considered an intellectual of European dimensions.
He was born on March 15, 1875, in Konica, in an old Konica family. After receiving his early education in his hometown, he attended the Jesuit College Saverian in Shkodra and later the studies of the French imperial high school in Istanbul. After completing high school in France, he continued his studies in Dijon for Roman philology and later graduated from Harvard University in the United States, earning a “Master of Arts” degree. In 1897, he published the first issue of the political, cultural, and literary magazine “Albania”, in Brussels.
After his move to Boston, together with Fan Noli, they founded the newspaper “Dielli” (Sun), an important organ of the Pan-Albanian Federation “Vatra”. In 1912, on behalf of the Vatra Federation, he went to London to defend Albanian national interests at the Conference of Ambassadors in London.
In 1921, Konica was elected president of the Vatra Federation, and with the resumption of the management of the “Dielli” newspaper, he wrote in his column “Shtylla e Konicës” (Konica’s Column).
In 1926, Faik Konica was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary of Albania in the United States.
He died in Washington on December 15, 1942. In 1995, after the fall of the communist dictatorship, his remains were brought to Tirana.
