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Early Photography in Albania

 
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The Photo Collection
of Baron Alexandre Degrand
Deutsch | Shqip

Albania in the 1890s

The French diplomat and writer, Jules Alexandre Théodore Degrand (1844-1911), was born in Paris and joined the French foreign service. In 1874 he was in Romania as chancellor of the French consulate in Galati. He worked there in the following year with consul and amateur archaeologist Charles Champoiseau (1830-1909) who a decade earlier had discovered the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace, now in the Louvre. On 20 March 1880, Degrand was transferred to the French legation in Bucharest and in 1882 he was vice-consul in Constanza. From 1893 to 1899 Degrand then served as French consul in Shkodra. He was especially interested in the history of the region, in particular its prehistory and antiquity, and visited fortresses, mediaeval churches and ruins, noting what he saw and what he was told by the people he spoke to. Two years after his departure from Albania, he published his Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie (Memories of High Albania), Paris 1901, a well-documented description of northern Albania of the period, and one that is accompanied by many exceptional photographs. The artefacts that he discovered in the necropolis of the fortress of Dalmaca and in the Illyrian tombs of Koman were given to the Musée d’Antiquités Nationales at Saint Germain en Laye near Paris where they are preserved today. Baron Alexandre Degrand lies buried in Carcassonne. The present collection of photos is taken from his book, Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie.

AD008: "The Venetian fortress of Dulcigno," now Ulqin/Ulcinj in Montenegro (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD011: "A Muslim woman in Dulcigno," now Ulqin/Ulcinj in Montenegro (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD012: "The Drin River below Scutari," now Shkodra (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD013: "The Bojana/Buna River emerging from Lake Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD016: "Turkish (i.e. Muslim) ladies" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD017: "Muslim Albanian woman in Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD018: "Bey of Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD020: "Catholic Albanian woman in Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD024: "Albanian house" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD025: "Albanian fireplace" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD028: "Catholic Albanian woman wearing indoor clothing" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD029: "Indoor clothing of Albanian Muslim women" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD031: "Young Albanian Catholic girl" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD035: "Catholic Albanians" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD037: "Catholic Albanian bride with her godmothers" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD040: "The abduction of the bride among Catholic peasants" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD041: "The arrival of the bride among Muslim peasants" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD045: "My Muslim godson and his mother" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD049: "Catholic Albanian lady wearing mourning clothes" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD054: "Highland woman of Hoti" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD055: "Highland woman of Shllaku" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD056: "Peasant woman of the lowlands" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD057: "Highland woman of Kelmendi" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD061: "Highlanders of Shkreli" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD065: "Alley in the bazaar of Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD068: "View of the fish weirs in Lake Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD069: "Fishermen’s hut in Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD071: "The fortress of Shkodra as seen from the Bojana/Buna River" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD083: "Ruins of the Benedictine Abbey of Rrash [Fushë Shtoj] near Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD084: "Village woman from Vraka near Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD089: "Mes Bridge [Ura e Mesit] over the Kir River" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD091: "The fortress of Drivasto, now Drisht" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD093: "Gold encolpion found in Drivasto," now Drisht (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD095: "The Church of St Sergius and St Bacchus" in Shirq near Shkodra (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD099: "The Church of the Madonna of Shkodra in Shas [Suacium], Montenegro (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD105: "The ruins of Mazrek" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD107: "The Chapel of the Madonna in Dagno," now Deja, near Shkodra (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD109: "The fortress of Dagno, now Deja, on the Drin River" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD111: "View of the ruins of Sarda," now Shurdhah (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD113: "Valley of the Drin River below the Church of St Peter’s at Sarda," now Shurdhah (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD117: "Ruins of the Church of the Assumption in Kraja" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD120: "The floodplain of the Drin at Shkodra" and the Lead Mosque (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD124: "Bridge over the Fan River" in Mirdita (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD130: "Women from Mirdita" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD131: "Men from Mirdita" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD133: "Valley of the Lesser Fan River at Orosh" in Mirdita (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD139: "With the kaimakam of Mirdita, Marka Gjoni, Don Domenico, Summa my dragoman, and the brothers and guards of the kaimakam" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD141: "Countryside at Orosh in Mirdita" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD144: "Processional cross at the Church of St Alexander in Orosh," Mirdita (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD170: "Preng Bibë Doda" (1858-1919), the prince of Mirdita (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD172: "Margela Bibë Doda, the mother of Preng Bibë Doda" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD175: "Alessio, now Lezha, and its fortress" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD177: "Entrance to the fortress of Lezha" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD180: "Bas-relief in the ramparts of Durazzo," now Durrës (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD181: "Marble engraving found in Durrës" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD185: "The Mosque of Hadji Et’hem Bey in Tirana" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD187: "The Bey of Tirana in national dress" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD191: "The namazgjah (prayer grounds) of Ahmed Bey in Tirana" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD193: "The dancers of Tirana" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD195: "The Esnaf Djami [Karapici Mosque] in Tirana" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD218: "View of the fortress of Kruja, eastern side" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD221: "Kruja" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD226: "Fitting for the top of a tent, found at Kruja" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD251: "Mëri and Prena, the two porters who carried my luggage" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD252: "Crossing the River Drin at Koman" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD255: "The Drin Valley as seen from the fortress of Dalmaca" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD256: "Mountain of the Graves" near Koman (?) (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD267: "View from the Mountain of the Graves, eastern side" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD281: "Waiting for a procession in the yard of the cathedral" in Shkodra (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD282: "Leaving church" in Shkodra (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). AD283: "Procession in the yard of the cathedral in Shkodra" (Photo: Alexandre Degrand, 1890s). simple jquery lightboxby VisualLightBox.com v5.9

 

Die Fotosammlung
des Barons Alexandre Degrand

English | Shqip

Albanien in den 1890er Jahren

Der französische Diplomat und Autor, Baron Jules Alexandre Théodore Degrand (1844-1911), wurde in Paris geboren und schlug eine Laufbahn im diplomatischen Dienst ein. Im Jahre 1874 war er in Rumänien als Kanzler des französischen Konsulats in Galati tätig, wo er im folgenden Jahr mit dem Konsul und Amateurarchäologen Charles Champoiseau (1830-1909) zusammenarbeitete. Es war Champoiseau, der ein Jahrzehnt zuvor das berühmte Standbild der Nike von Samothrake entdeckt hatte, das sich derzeit im Louvre befindet. Am 20. März 1880 wurde Degrand an die französische Legation in Bukarest versetzt und im Jahre 1882 war er Vizekonsul in Konstanza. Zwischen den Jahren 1893 und 1899 war Baron Degrand schließlich französischer Konsul in Skutari (Shkodra). Seine Interessen galten in Albanien wie auch zuvor in Rumänien in erster Linie der Geschichte, insbesondere der Urgeschichte und dem Altertum des Gebiets. In Nordalbanien bereiste er während seiner diplomatischen Tätigkeit Festungen, mittelalterliche Kirchen und Ruinen, und schrieb alles auf, was er dort sah und von den Einheimischen erfuhr. Zwei Jahre nach seiner Abreise aus Albanien veröffentlichte er das Buch Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie (Erinnerungen an Oberalbanien), Paris 1901, eine ausgezeichnet dokumentierte Beschreibung Nordalbaniens zu seiner Zeit, die mit zahlreichen Fotoaufnahmen versehen ist. Die Objekte, die Degrand im Nekropol der Festung von Dalmaca und in den illyrischen Gräbern von Koman entdeckte, wurden dem Musée d’Antiquités Nationales in Saint Germain en Laye bei Paris gestiftet, wo sie heute zu sehen sind. Baron Alexandre Degrand liegt in Carcassonne begraben. Die hier vorgestellte Fotosammlung stammt aus der obengenannten Veröffentlichung.

 

Koleksioni fotografik
i Baronit Alexandrë Dëgran (Alexandre Degrand)
English | Deutsch

Shqipëria në vitet 1890

Diplomati dhe shkrimtari francez, baroni Zhyl Aleksandrë Teodor Dëgran (Jules Alexandre Théodore Degrand, 1844-1911) lindi në Paris dhe punoi për shërbimin e jashtëm francez. Në vitin 1874 ishte kancelar i konsullatës franceze në Galati të Rumanisë. Atje bashkëpunoi në vitin tjetër me konsullin dhe arkeologun amator, Sharl Shampuazo (Charles Champoiseau, 1830-1909) i cili, dhjetë vjet më parë kishte zbuluar statujën e “Fitores Fluturake të Samotraqisë” e cila ndodhet në muzeun e Luvrit. Me 20 mars 1880, Dëgrani u transferua në legatën franceze të Bukureshtit dhe në vitin 1882 ishte zëvendëskonsull në Konstancë. Në vitet 1893-1899, baroni Dëgran ishte konsulli francez i Shkodrës. Ai ishte tepër i interesuar për historinë e rajonit, në veçanti për parahistorinë dhe kohën antike dhe vizitoi kalatë, kishat mesjetare dhe gërmime, duke shënuar çfarë pa dhe mësoi nga njerëzit që takoi. Dy vjet pas largimit të tij nga Shqipëria, botoi librin Souvenirs de la Haute-Albanie (Kujtime nga Shqipëria e Epërmë), Paris 1901, një udhëpërshkrim i mirëdokumentuar i Veriut të Shqipërisë, me shumë fotografi të jashtëzakonshme. Objektet që gjeti në nekropolin e kalasë së Dalmacës dhe në varret ilire të Komanit ndodhen sot në Muzeun Kombëtar të Antikiteteve në San Zherman an Le (Saint Germain en Laye) pranë Parisit. Baroni Aleksandrë Dëgran u varros në Karkason (Carcassonnne). Fotografitë e këtij koleksioni janë marrë nga libri i lartpërmendur.

 

 

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