TIRANA, July 13 – Murat Toptani, a sculptor, painter, poet, publicist and prominent figure of the Albanian National Renaissance, was born on July 13, 1868, in Aka, present-day Türkiye.
His father, Said Toptani, lived in exile in Türkiye at the time, which led to Murat’s birth there. In 1884, Toptani continued his studies at the “Sultanie” school in Gallata Saraj. He gained a broad cultural background and learned several foreign languages, including French, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic and Persian.
Meanwhile, he developed his artistic and patriotic activity mainly in Tirana and among Albanian communities abroad, including Istanbul, Naples and Bucharest. Toptani maintained close ties with the Frashëri brothers and became Naim Frashëri’s son-in-law. He represented Tirana at the Assembly of Vlora and signed the Act of Independence.
In 1899, Toptani created a bust of Skënderbeu in Naples, one of the early works of Albanian sculpture during the National Renaissance period. He later created another bust of Skënderbeu in 1917, which the National Gallery of Arts in Tirana preserves. The gallery also holds his watercolor caricature “England’s Promises”. Toptani wrote many poems and journalistic articles, while his poetry collection “Poems of Murat Toptani” appeared in Tirana in 1924, after his death in 1918.
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