Mjeda family

The Mjeda family is an old noble Albanian family which played a role in the history of Albania and Kosovo.

Mjeda family
Current region	Northern Albania and Kosovo
Place of origin	Mjedë
Members	Ndre Mjeda Lazër Mjeda Kol Mjeda Lukë Simon Mjeda

History

According to family tradition they are descended from the princely house of Dukagjini, which ruled northern Albania in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Dukagjini descended themselves from Duke Gin Tanusio (Dux Ginius Tanuschus), first mentioned in 1281, while 15th century Ottoman chronicles mention them as "Princes of German origin". [1]

Archbishop Lazër Mjeda

Dom Ndre Mjeda on a 2016 Albanian stamp

The family took its name from the village of Mjeda where they held lands, in the Zadrima region near Shkodër, and have been established in Shkodër since at least the early 18th century.[2] The family has two branches: Prizren and Shkodër. They became the leading Catholic family of Prizren and were engaged in trade between the Italian peninsula, Constantinople, and the Balkans.

Over the centuries, members of the family were merchants, landowners, clerics, and political leaders. Today, members of the family mainly live in Albania and Croatia.

Notable members

• Ndre Mjeda, Albanian intellectual, jesuit priest, philologist, poet, and deputy in the National Assembly of Albania, during the Albanian National Awakening period. Delegate at the Congress of Manastir.[3][4][5]
• Lazër Mjeda, Bishop of Sapë (1900-1904), Archbishop of Skopje (1904-1909), Archbishop of Shkodër (1921-1935).[6][7]
• Kol Mjeda, Mayor of Shkodër (1924-1925), Vice-President of the National Assembly of Albania, Prefect of Dibër County.
• Lukë Simon Mjeda, merchant and Landowner who represented Prizren at the Second League of Prizren (1943).[8][9][10]

References

1. http://www.albanianhistory.net/1956_Vlora/index.html
2. http://www.gazetadita.al/lista-e-180-familjeve-katolike-e-vitit-1736-ne-famulline-e-kishes-se-zojes-se-shkodres-te-lagjes-katolike-tophane/
3. http://rti.rtsh.al/2019/11/14/111th-anniversary-of-the-manastir-congress/
4. Skendi 1967, p. 141. harvnb error: no target: CITEREFSkendi1967 (help)
5. Robert Elsie. "MODERN ALBANIAN LITERATURE AND ITS RECEPTION IN THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING WORLD" (PDF). elsie.de. pp. 6–7.
6. "Bishop Llazar Mjeda". Retrieved 12 August 2010.
7. A Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. Robert Elsie. 2012. p. 314.
8. https://shkoder.net/fjala/2003/kapinova25.htm
9. https://www.koha.mk/tradhtia-e-madhe-tragjedia-pas-lidhjes-se-dyte-te-prizrenit-2/
10. https://www.ballikombetar.info/xhafer-deva-e-verteta-e-lidhjes-se-dyte-te-prizrenit/