How was English culture destroyed in Albania?

The Carnarvon family has been among the most famous and influential families in Great Britain. Their Highclere palace, even today, is one of the most beautiful in the world and the series 'Downton Abbey' was shot there.

The fame of this family grew and took on world proportions when, in 1922, Lord Carnarvon, brother of Aubrey Herbert, discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun, the most famous Egyptian pharaoh. With this followed the deaths in the Carnarvon family, including that of Aubrey Herbert, the champion of Albanian independence. For this reason, this became the subject of the 'Curse of the Pharaohs' which continues to this day.

In 1928, the Countess of Carnarvon took a very noble step. As a sign of honoring her son, Aubrey Herbert, the best friend the Albanians had, she founded the program which she called 'For Deity'. The program foresaw the cultural rise of Albania, which would also influence the strengthening of the independence of this country, for which the Carnavo family spared nothing.

And, thus, Countess Carnavon in Tirana bought the land and built the library that was part of the "Herbert" Institute. In the library, the countess brought 3000 sets with different titles in English, but also in other languages, including Albanian. He also built the tennis court there. The country became a center where Albanian youth frequented it and began to Europeanize quickly.

Then, the countess brought doctors and equipment from England to different hospitals, distinguishing that of the insane in Vlora. He drained a part of the marsh and built the village of Herbert for Kosovo refugees, who established it well and developed a craft economy, which the countess sold on the British market. The countess also built a hospital for the treatment of animals. There are many possibilities that this hospital will be the first of its kind in the Balkans.

The Countess also did many other things, including promoting the culture of afternoon tea where women would gather for conversation.

Unfortunately, this penetration of English culture in Albania did not last long, as it was interrupted in 1939 with the Italian invasion. The library was turned into an Italian military barracks, and the books disappeared. This happened at the initiative of the Albanian Government under the tutelage of Italian fascism, when the Minister of Education/Culture was Ernest Koliqi. Great Britain and the Anglo-Saxon culture at that time was the enemy of Italian fascism and, consequently, of Albania.

The destruction of this culture continued even with communism. Even more. The library became a cinema ("Ali Demi") and all other activities were stopped, while the village of Herbert was renamed Qerret. Despite all this contribution, Aubrey Herbert, the Countess and the Carnarvon family were never mentioned until the fall of communism. /Telegraph/