On April 7, 1811, Hasan Tahsini (1811-1881), a philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, and psychologist, was born—one of the most prominent figures of the Albanian National Renaissance.

Tahsini was the first rector of the University of Istanbul and one of the founders of the Central Committee for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nationality. He is regarded as one of the greatest thinkers of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century.

He was born in the village of Ninat in Konispoli, where he received his early education. He continued his studies at one of the most renowned madrasas in Istanbul. He was appointed as the first rector of the newly established University of Istanbul (1870). Hasan Tahsini’s efforts to spread scientific knowledge, which contradicted the views of the state and religious authorities of the time, caught attention; he was dismissed from his rector position and expelled from the university.

Hasan Tahsini was one of the most active figures of the Albanian National Renaissance. As early as the 1860s, in collaboration with other patriots such as Konstantin Kristoforidhi, he began to think and act towards creating societies that would work for the spread of knowledge among Albanians and for the development of a new alphabet for the Albanian language.

Tahsini faced persecution and imprisonment for his patriotic activity by fanatics and narrow-minded individuals, but he remained steadfast in his scientific beliefs and his path towards cultural development and the affirmation of Albania’s national demands.

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