Kelmendi

Kelmend (or Klementi, Serbian: Клименти, "Klimenti") is an Albanian Region, known as the Klementi Mountain, (alb; Mali i Kelmenit) originating from Malesia, now known as the Malësi e Madhe District in Albania, and surrounding ethnic Albanian territories. The families can be found in Albania, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Kelmendi is also the largest Albanian tribe within Malesia, as a result to the largest population and land within Malësia territory. The extended regions of Vuthaj and Martinaj are located in Montenegro, and Rugova is located in Kosovo. These towns are populated by descendents of Kelmendi. The clan was once an all- Roman Catholic clan. The region properly called Kelmend is still 100% Catholic. However, the branch of Kelmendi called Rugova, is predominantly of the Muslim faith. Religion cannot be taken as a factor that defines the identity of the Kelmendi region. On the contrary, the Kelmendi region is and has always been secular.

Western Kelmendi is Catholic, while the Kelmendi in the Lim River Valley, Plav-Gusinje and Rugova are Muslim.

Families

Family descendants of the Kelmendi clan from the Kelmendi Proper Region

Plava-Gucia

*Ahmetaj (Serbian truncation: Ahmetović) - from village "Vusanje/Vuthaj". They descend from a certain Ahmet Nikaj, son of Nika Balaj and grandson of Nrrel Balaj, and are originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Bacaj
*Balaj (Serbian truncation: Bal(j)ić) - from village "Grnčar/Gërnçari". Immigrated to Plav-Gusinje in 1698 from the village of Vukël (or Selcë?) in northern Albania and converted to Islam the same year.
*Balidemaj (Serbian truncation: Bal(j)idemaj/Balidemić) - from village "Martinovići/Martinaj". Their ancestor, a Catholic Albanian named Martin, immigrated to the village of Trepča/Trepçë in the late 17th century from the village of Selcë in northern Albania. His descendants became known as "Martini/Martinović". This family remained Catholic for three generations, until Martin's great-grandson converted to Islam, taking the name "Omer". Since then, the family was known as "Omeraj/Omerović". Until recently was the family's name changed to "Balidemaj".
*Bruçaj (Serbian truncation: Bručaj/Bručević) - they are descendants of a Catholic Albanian named Bruç Nrrelaj, son of Nrrel Balaj, and are originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Canaj (Serbian truncation: Canović) - from the villages of "Bogajići/Bogaj", "Višnjevo/Vishnjeva" and "Đurička Rijeka/Reka e Xhurës". Immigrated to Plav-Gusinje in 1698 from the village of Vukël in northern Albania and converted to Islam the same year.
*Çelaj (Serbian truncation: Čel(j)ić) - from the villages of "Vusanje/Vuthaj" and "Vojno Selo".
*Dedushaj (Serbian truncation: Dedušaj/Dedušević) - from village "Vusanje/Vuthaj". They are descendants of a Catholic Albanian named Ded (Dedush) Balaj, son of Nrrel Balaj, and are originally from Vukle in northern Albania.
*Hakaj (Serbian truncation: Hakanjin) - from village "Vusanje/Vuthaj".
*Hasangjekaj (Serbian truncation: Hasanđekaj/Hasanđekić) - from village "Martinovići/Martinaj". They are originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Gorçaj
*Gjonbalaj (Serbian truncation: Đonbaljaj/Đonbalić) - from village "Vusanje/Vuthaj" with relatives in "Vojno Selo". Their ancestor, a Catholic Albanian named Gjon Balaj, immigrated with his sons: Bala, Aslan, Tuça and Hasan; along with his brother, Nrrel, and his children: Nika, Ded (Dedush), Stanisha, Bruç and Vuk from the village of Vukël in northern Albania to the village of Vusanje/Vuthaj in the late-17th century. Upon arriving, Gjon and his descentants settled in the village Vusanje/Vuthaj and converted to Islam and were known as the "Gjonbalaj".
*Kuka (Serbian truncation: Kuković) - from the village of "Vusanje/Vuthaj"
*Lecaj (Serbian truncation: Ljecaj) - from the village of "Martinovići/Martinaj". They are originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Musaj (Serbian truncation: Musić) - Immigrated to Plav-Gusinje in 1698 from village Vukël in northern Albania and converted to Islam the same year.
*Novaj (Serbian truncation: Novović)
*Pepaj (Serbian truncation: Pepić) - from the village of Pepići/Pepaj
*Prelvukaj (Serbian truncation: Preljvukaj/Preljvukić) - Originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Rekaj (Serbian truncation: Reković) - from village "Bogajići/Bogaj", immigrated to Plav-Gusinje circa 1858.
*Rugovac - from the village of "Višnjevo/Vishnjeva" with relatives in "Vojno Selo" and "Babino Polje". They are descendants of the Rugova section of the Kelmendi in Kosovo.
*Rukaj (Serbian truncation: Ruković)
*Qosaj (Serbian truncation: Ćosaj/Ćosović) - from the village of "Vusanje/Vuthaj". They are descendants of a certain Qosa Stanishaj, son of Stanisha Nrrelaj and are originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Selimaj (Serbian truncation: Seljimaj/Sel(j)imović)
*Suknović - descendants of the Rugovac clan.
*Ulaj (Serbian truncation: Uljaj/Ul(j)ević) - from the village of "Vusanje/Vuthaj". They are originally from Vukël in northen Albania. They are descendants of a certain Ulë Nikaj, son of Nika Nrrelaj.
*Vukel (Serbian truncation: Vukelj) - from the village of "Dolja/Dola". They immigrated to Gusinje in 1675 from the village of Vukël in northern Albania. A certain bey from the Šabanagić clan gave the Vukel clan the village of Dolja, where they continue to reside present-day.
*Vuçetaj (Serbian truncation: Vučetaj/Vučetović) - from village "Vusanje/Vuthaj". They are originally from Vukël in northen Albania. They are descendants of a certain Vuçetë Nikaj, son of Nika Nrrelaj.

Lim River Valley

*Demić - from the areas of Rozaje. They are originally from Selcë in northern Albania.
*Demčević - from the areas of Rozaje and Bijelo Polje.
*Halilović - originally from Selcë in northern Albania.
*Vukli - from the area of Rozaje. originally from Vukël in northern Albania.
*Zejnelagić - from the area of Rozaje. One section of the clan is originally from Selcë in northern Albania. Today, these Zejnelagićs are found in Rožaje and in Sjenica. Another section of the Zejnelagićs are from Nikça in northern Albania. This section of the Zejnelagićs immigrated to the Lim River Valley in 1698. Today, they are found in the villages of Donja Lovnica and Ibarac in Rozaje. They are related to the Ramović clan.
*"'Zejnelović

Kuči

*Bracaj (Serbian truncation: Bracović) - from the village of "Vrbica", originally from Selcë in northern Albania.
*Đerđelović - Descendants of the Bracović clan.

Other

*Bardhecaj
*Bucaj
*Bujaj
*Cali
*Dedaj
*Drejaj
*Elezaj/Elezi
*Gjonvukaj (Gjevukaj)
*Gorovok
*"'Gorvok/Gorvoka/Gorvokaj
*Havoll
*Jerebičanin
*Kelmendi
*Lekutanaj
*Lelçaj
*Mrnacaj/Mernacaj
*Nikaj (Serbian truncation: Niković) - Originally from Vukël in northen Albania. They are descendants of a certain Nika Nrrelaj, son of Nrrel Balaj.
*Nilaj
*Pllumaj
*Prelaj
*Rexhaj
*Rudaj
*Selmani (Serbian truncation: Seljmani/Sel(j)manović) - Originally from Vukël in northern Albania. They are descendants of a certain Selman Gjonbalaj of the Gjonbalaj clan.
*Sirdani
*Smajlaj
*Vukaj
*Vushaj

*There are more families that are supposed to appear on this list, and this is near impossible for the sheer massivity of the task. Kelmendi is a huge Fis, and none of the families that are listed here are done so for any particular reason or order, other than to list a few of them to provide an example.

Legends of Kelmendi

Prek Cali

A big time hero from Kelmendi was Prek Cali Hasanaj. Prek Cali was a brave man born in Malësi. He was an ardent patriot that fought for his land and his country. Aside from fighting Slavic aggression in his early years (and keeping a significant portion of Northern Albania from being annexed to Serbia and Montenegro), he is also known for his struggle against the Communist forces commanded by Enver Hoxha. The Malsor forces under Prek Cali were initially successful in keeping the Communists from taking control of Northern Albania, but Enver Hoxha used a priest to lure him into a trap on Palm Sunday, and had him killed.

Nora of Kelmendi

She can also be called the Albanian Brunhilde too, for she herself was one of the greatest female warriors in the history of Albania. There are two versions of Nora and both versions end with Nora killing the Pasha (a Bosnian man ) who has been documented to have been the leader of the Ottoman Army and who had taken a Public Oath to turn Malesia into ashes if Nora did not become his wife.

The events happened around 1620. Nora’s father, a Noble Fighter wanted a son to help him fight against the ottoman empire. When Nora, a girl was born, he took her to an orphanage in Shkodra and left her there. His sister, knowing the doings of her brother, took Nora back and raised her as a boy. Nora's biological father, having the desire to train some young man to become a fighter, decided to train the adapted “son” of his sister. Hence, unknowingly, he trained his own daughter to become a fighter. But there is no way to fight biology, so when Nora grew up, she become Malesia’s most beautiful women. It is said that she was as pretty as a true Zane (mountain fairy). Her fame spread through the whole country. The Pasha who resided at the Rozafati Castle in Shkodra, heard of her too. One day Nora came down to the city with her parents. The Pasha came out of Castle and saw her. He fell in love.

Initially, he wanted to marry her by the laws of the Albanian Kanun, which meant he would send a trusted man to Nora’s house and ask for her hand. However, Nora's family replied that the Albanian KAnun did not allow for marriages with non-Albanians. The Pasha was not used to being refused. He was quoted as stating "I'll burn all of Malesia to ashes he said, or Nora will become my wife".

That was not the first or the last time for someone to attempt to burn Malesia to the ground, so nobody was afraid of the threat. It was bound to happen either for taxes, solders or the refusal to recognize the Ottoman legal system, anyway. The Pasha was serious. He lead his huge army and besieged Malesia.

Nora had proved to be a warrior. As a young woman as she was, she had proved to be the noblest and the most beautiful girl of all, but life had thrown yet another challenge at her. She had to prove that she was wise too, for wisdom is the thing most appreciated by the people of Malesia. She devised the plan of how to kill the mad Bosnian Pasha.

This is what happened according to various Albanian Epics. Nora pretended to want to marry the Pasha without the permission of her family. Dressed in the traditional Xhubleta, she went to Pasha's tent. Seeing her, the Pasha fell on his knees and began to pray to the divinities believing she was a true gift from heaven, as a reward by the almighty Allah for his services to Him. Pasha ordered his troops to rest and prepare to go back to Shkodra. The solders were happy to lay down their spears.

While everything was quiet around the Pasha's tent, Nora pulled a dagger that her father had given to her, which he had gotten as a gift from his own father, who had gotten it as a gift from his own father and so on and so forth. The dagger was in the family longer than anyone could remember. It was used strictly in wars, that is to say, the dagger was used only as a weapon to kill the enemy. This time, though, it turned out to be a regular dagger, made of steel, by a smith in the Middle Ages. She stabbed the Pasha a few times, kicked him around the back of his head, and choked him a little so he would not scream. The Pasha fell on his Persian rug.

At that point Nora could no longer stab him for he was lying on the floor. Nora ran as planned, at this time the Malesors attacked the Ottomans army and destroyed them. The Pasha survived the stab wounds. He created his own special unit, and followed Nora to her home.

There is a second legend. In this legend, Nora never went to the tent, but as the men were fighting on one side and the Ottomans had stealthily attempted to attack surrounding villages, she led an army of 300 women against the Ottomans. It is said that Nora had a duel with Pasha and she killed him.In both versions, Nora kills the Pasha in a fair duel. And in both stories he is from Bosnia and is called Vutsi Pasha.

It is proven historically that around 1620, the Bosnian Pasha, Vutsi Pasha, lead an expedition against the malesors, and there are documents that state that a woman was one of the most distinguished warriors. Anyhow, both stories are interesting. They are both mixed in legends and history. The malesors are truly a people that are of worthy mention in any legend. For centuries they have fought the Turk, Slav and various would-be invaders. Nora is one of the heroines that has contributed to the illustrious legacy of the Malesors, and all Albanian people while at the same time, reminding them of what is to be done to those who would attempt to pillage and ransack them.

Pope Clementi XI

Nik Leka

Ibrahim Rugova

Ibrahim Rugova: Short Biography Ibrahim Rugova was born on 2nd December 1944 at the Crnce village, municipality of Istok, in Kosovo. On 10 January 1945, Yugoslav Communists summarily executed his father, Ukë Rugova, and his grandfather, Rrustë Rugova. Ibrahim Rugova finished secondary schooling in Peć in 1967. He graduated at the Faculty of Philosophy - Department of Albanian Studies - of the University of Pristina in 1971. Mr. Rugova spent an academic year (1976-77) in Paris at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes under the supervision of Prof. Roland Barthes, pursuing his scholarly interests in the study of literature, focussing on literary theory. Ibrahim Rugova earned his Ph.D. degree in literature in 1984 at the University of Pristina. In 1996, Dr. Rugova was elected a correspondent member of the Kosovo Academy of Arts and Sciences, the top Kosovar institution of scholarship and science.Author of ten books, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was initially an editor with the Pristina-based students' newspaper "Bota e re" (New World) and the magazine "Dituria" (Knowledge, 1971-72). After that, for almost two decades, Dr. Rugova was with the Institute for Albanian Studies in Pristina, initially as a junior, later as a senior research fellow in literature. He served some time as an editor-in-chief of the Institute’s periodical "Gjurmime albanologjike" (Albanian Research).Dr. Rugova was elected president of the Kosovo Writers Association in 1988, which was to prove as a strong nucleus of the mounting Albanian opposition movement to the Serbian/Yugoslav Communist rule in Kosovo.As an outspoken intellectual, on 23 December 1989, Dr. Rugova was elected president of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the first political party in Kosovo to directly challenge the ruling Communist regime. The LDK became soon the leading political force in Kosovo, as it assembled the vast majority of the people, although other parties and groupings emerged in the meantime.Under the leadership of Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, the LDK - in cooperation with other Albanian political forces in Kosovo and in the former Yugoslavia, as well as the Assembly of Kosovo - completed the legal framework for the institutionalization of the independence of Kosovo. The Declaration of Independence (2 July 1990), the proclamation of Kosovo as the Republic of Kosova and the adoption of its constitution (7 September 1990), the national referendum on Kosovo’s independence and sovereignity conducted in late September 1991, were a prelude to the first multiparty parliamentary and presidential elections in the self-declared republic held on 24 May 1992. The LDK won a sweeping majority of seats in the Parliament in which three other parties were represented, whereas Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was elected President of the Republic of Kosova with an overwhelming majority of votes.Dr. Ibrahim Rugova was re-elected President of the Republic of Kosova in the elections held in March 1998. His party, LDK won most of the seats in the Parliament of the Republic that year.The LDK won 58% of the vote in the internationally-sponsored local elections in post-war Kosovo in October 2000. In March 2002, Rugova was appointed as President by the Kosovo Assembly. In December 2004 re-elected as President of Kosovo.On 21 January 2006, lost a battle with lung cancer.Dr. Rugova left behind a wife and three children.

Jeton Kelmendi

Jeton Kelmendi is an author who, in writing a tri-dimensional poetry, entwines the modern with the actual and communicates it in an original as well as a traditional way. The literary critics have valued his verse for its clear, powerful and artistically accomplished massages. The language of Kelmendi is individual and is quite naturally conveyed to the readership, as a pleasant and appealing form, due to, perhaps, its touching complex and figurative concepts. The essence of his poetry is the vertical narration and the selective subject matter, with which he plays in time and space. The Albanian poet Jeton Kelmendi was born in Peć in 1978. He attended primary school and secondary school in his native town, and then he studied at the University of Pristina. He is the correspondent of several Albanian (Kosovar and Albanian) media and cooperates with a number of others abroad. Kelmendi is a quite familiar name to Kosovar poetry readership since 2000. He is also renowned as a journalist covering political and cultural issues. Kelmendi’s poetry is translated in several languages and is included in a number of anthologies. He is a member of several international poets’ clubs and he has contributed to cultural magazines, especially in English. The essentially poetic thought of Kelmendi is the subtlety of expression and the care for the word. The themes that dominate his creations are love and the raw realities of the political situation, quite often permeated by feelings of disappointment for the current state of affairs. He is a war veteran of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Kelmendi is currently settled in Brussels and he is a member of the Professional Journalists Association of Europe.

Rexhep Qosja

Rexhep Qosja (b. 1936) is one of the most eminent and prolific literary critics in the Balkans, academician, former director of the Albanological Institute in Pristina and author of anthologies and numerous scholarly monographs, including a three-volume history of Albanian literature in the romantic period. He is also the author of one of the most widely admired and translated novels of recent years, "Vdekja më vjen prej syve të tillë", Pristina 1974 (Death comes from such eyes). It is a work of original narrative technique and composition, ‘thirteen tales which might constitute a novel.’ The protagonist of the novel, Xhezairi i Gjikës, is a professional writer caught up in a frightening web of political intrigue, secret police, interrogation and torture, a world full of very definite political allusions to the difficult situation faced by Albanian intellectuals in Kosovo. Qosja has remained active as a writer in the struggle for freedom in Kosovo. Among his many monographs on the national question is: "Çështja shqiptare - historia dhe politika", Pristina 1994 (The Albanian question - history and politics).

Isa Qosja

Azem Shkreli

Azem Shkreli (1938-1997) has been described as a poet of profound ideas and critical judgments. He was born in the Rugova mountains near Peć and became head of Kosovo Film Studios in Pristina. Shkreli is an intellectual poet who, though highly expressive, is by no means verbose. His urban perception of things has given new significance to his experience of rural customs among the rugged tribes of the Rugova highlands with their traditional wisdom and way of life. His early volumes of verse offered masterful portraits of these legendary mountain inhabitants. The idyllic though specifically organized landscape which Azem Shkreli paints does not blind him to problems of ethics. Much of his verse, a moral catharsis in words, is devoted to the oppressed peoples of the Third World, expressing a poetic solidarity with them against exploitation and suffering. Shkreli is also the author of the short story collection "Sytë e Evës", Pristina 1965 (Eve’s eyes), and the novel "Karvani i bardhë", Pristina 1960 (The white caravan).

Sali Kelmendi

Born in Tirana on August 31, 1947. He is an engineer and a politician. One of the founders of the Democratic Party of Albania in 1990, Sali Kelmendi is the first democratically elected mayor of Tirana in the democratic elections of July 1992. During the years 1992-1996, over 90% of enterprises and 100% of homes were denationalized. Also a lot of work was done in the housing of the political persecuted people. Thus, he contributed in the Tirana's transformation from a centrally planned economy to a market orientated system.

References

*sr icon Dedushaj, Rexhep (2003). "Plavo - Gusinjska nahija vekovima", New York: Moriah Offset Corp.
*sr icon [http://www.plav.net/hist/Nesto%20iz%20Historije%20Plava%20i%20Gusinja%20(Pise%20prof.%20Rizah%20Gruda).htm Nešto iz Historije Plava iz Gusinje] by Professor Rizah Gruda
*sr icon [http://www.montenegro.org.au Montenegrin Ethnic Association of Australia]
*sq icon [http://www.malsia.eu/Vuthajt_pasqyrat.htm Gjonbalaj family tree]