Ismail Qemali

Ismail Qemal Bej Vlora Turkish Avlonyal smail Kemal BeyJanuary 1844 January 1919 commonly known as Ismail Qemali was a leader of the Albanian national movement. As founder of Independent Albania he served as its first head of state and president of the provisional government until January 1914 when he was forced to step aside by the International Commission of Control established by the six Great Powers.

Qemali was born to a noble family in Vlor. Having finished the primary education in his hometown, and the gymnasium Zosimea in Janina, in 1859 he moved to Constantinople where he embarked on a career as an Ottoman civil servant, being identified with the liberal reform wing of the service under Midhat Pasha, and was governor of several towns in the Balkans. During these years he took part in efforts for the standardization of the Albanian alphabet and the establishment of an Albanian cultural association.

Source: Wikipedia