Faik Bey Konica (later named Faïk Dominik Konitza, 15 March 1875 – 15 December 1942) was an important figure in Albanian language and culture in the early decades of the twentieth century. As the Albanian minister to Washington, his literary review Albania became the focal publication of Albanian writers living abroad. Faik Konica wrote little in the way of literature, but he was an influential stylist, critic, publicist and political figure in Albanian culture.
Biography
Faik was born on 15 March 1875 as a son of Shahin and Lalia Zenelbej in the town of Koniçe (modern Konitsa), Janina Vilayet, Ottoman Empire, now in northern Greece, not far from the present Albanian border. He had three brothers: Mehmed, Rustem and Hilmi. After elementary schooling in Turkish in his native town, he studied at the Xavierian Jesuit College in Shkodër which offered him some instruction in Albania and also an initial contact with central European culture and Western ideas. From there, he continued his schooling at the eminent French-language Imperial Galatasaray High School in Istanbul. During his youth, Konica cultivated his skills in Albanian and amassed a small library of books by foreign Albanologists.
In 1890, at the age of fifteen, he was sent to study in France where he spent the next seven years. After initial education at secondary schools in Lisieux (1890) and Carcassonne (1892), he registered at the University of Dijon, from which he graduated in 1895 in Romance languages and philology. After graduation, he moved to Paris for two years where he studied Medieval French literature, Latin and Greek at the famous Collège de France. He finished his studies at Harvard University in the United States, although little is known of this period of his life. As a result of his highly varied educational background, he was able to speak and write Albanian, Greek, Italian, French, German, English and Turkish fluently. In 1895, Konica converted from Islam to Roman Catholicism, and changed his name from Faik to Dominik, signing for many years as Faik Dominik Konica. However, in 1897 he would say "All religions make me vomit" and he later was described an atheist by some sources.
Konica strove for a more refined Western culture in Albania, but he also valued his country's traditions. He was, for instance, one of the first to propagate the idea of editing the texts of older Albanian literature. In an article entitled "Për themelimin e një gjuhës letrarishte shqip", (On the foundation of an Albanian literary language), published in the first issue of Albania, Konica also pointed to the necessity of creating a unified literary language. He suggested the most obvious solution, that the two main dialects, Tosk and Gheg, should be fused and blended gradually. His own fluid style was highly influential in the refinement of southern Albanian Tosk prose writing, which decades later was to form the basis of the modern Albanian literary language (standard language).
Albania (periodical)
While in Brussels, in 1896 and 1897 Konica started the publication of the periodical Albania, with publication ending in 1909, after he departed for the US. It was printed both in Brussels and Paris. The magazine was one of the most important rilindas magazines of its era.
Albanian publications were published abroad as the Ottoman Empire forbid the writing of Albanian and like other Albanian writers of the time Konica used a pseudonym Trank Spiro Bey, named after a Catholic Ottoman figure Trank Spiro, to bypass those conditions for his works. In 1903–1904, Faik Konica was a resident at Oakley Crescent in Islington, London. There he continued to edit and publish, under the pseudonym Trank Spiro Beg, the dual language (French/Albanian) periodical Albania that he had founded in Brussels in 1897. He 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. Support for a better Ottoman administration was advocated for by Konica through reforms in Albania. Konica's mastery of complexity and fine details of Albanian and its dialects was reflected in his writing style being refined and rich in expression. He also 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. Albania contributed to the development of national sentiment among Albanians through focusing on topics such as folklore, poetry, Albanian history and the medieval figure of Skanderbeg.