Mihal Grameno

Born 1872 in Korcha; died there in 1931. Albanian public figure, publicist, and writer.

Grameno participated in the national liberation and democratic movement in Albania. In 1886 he went to Rumania, where he joined the patriotic movement of Albanian émigrés (the Dituriia society). On returning to his homeland, Grameno joined the liberation struggle against the Turkish invaders that was spreading in Albania during 1905–12; he led an insurgent detachment. Grameno published the progressive newspapers Lidhja orthodokse (1909–10) and Koha (1911–26). He wrote patriotic poems, many of which became folk songs, and tales and stories. In 1905 he wrote the dramas Damn the Albanian Language and The Death of Pirr (published in 1906). In 1924, after the ascent to power of the feudal landlord group headed by A. Zogu, he retired from active participation in politics. In 1925 he published a book of memoirs, Albanian Revolt, which is a valuable account by a participant in the liberation struggle of the national movement of the Albanian people during 1905–08.