The Story of Carnavon Library: Raised by Love, Fell by Hate

Rezarta Delisula

Everything started after the Albanian lover Herbert died of blood poisoning caused by the extraction of a tooth and the rupture of a duodenal ulcer. In the book "Aubrey Herbert and the creation of today's Albania" by the authors Bejtullah Destani and Jason Tomes, it is written that in his memory, the widow and mother created the Albanian Aid Fund, to support schemes for the smooth running and development of the new Albanian state . The fund paid for the construction and equipment of the Vlora hospital and undertook the reclamation of the swamps, in order to reduce the number of malaria victims, a project continued by the Rockefeller Foundation.

In May 1925, a new village established north of Kavaja to house Kosovar refugees was officially named Herbert (today Qerret), as a sign of gratitude to him as the school and the village were built by the Albanian Relief Fund. "In Albania you cannot find a name with greater prestige than Herbert", Edith Durham said at the time. The Carnavon Library was built on the street of "Shëngjergji" at the former Cinema "Ali Demi" very close to the mosque of Tabake with a cost paid by the Herbert Institute of 44.000 gold francs ("Tirana" Osman Myderizi). It was inaugurated on May 12, 1929, about a year later, when it was handed over to Sait Toptan, President of the Tirana Youth Committee, by Auberey's brother, Mervin Herbert.

The library had a large reading room with large windows where the light was refracted fixedly on the tables, shelves with a fund of three thousand volumes in foreign languages ​​including Albanian, a fireplace where the portrait of Aubrey Herbert was carved. The Minister of Education at that time, Abdurrahman Dibra, said during the ribbon cutting: Countess Carnavon also gives us this moral food such as the library.

Soon this place became the "fashion" of the capital, where young men and women gathered to read and comment on events and situations. In 1934, a tennis court was built next to it. But the glow didn't last long. With the invasion of Albania in 1939, the property of the Herbert Institute was transferred to the prefecture and soon turned into an army barracks. It was completely destroyed and today there are no plaques that remember the charity of the English philologist.

King Zog for the extraordinary contribution that the Herbert family had in Albania decorated with the title: Officer of Math t'Urdni Skenderbeg, Elisabeth, Countess of Carnavon and Aubrey Herbert. Edith Durham and Ruth V. Pennington were also awarded the same title. The Herbert family's support continued even after the death of Countess Carnavon, who died on February 2, 1929, a few months before the inauguration of the library. In 1943 referring again to the book "Aubrey Herbert and the creation of today's Albania", Mary Herbert helped to establish the Anglo-Albanian Association. Auberon Herbert, Aubrey's only son, helped Albanians in exile after World War II.

Who was Aubrey Herbert?

Aubrey was born in 1880 and was the second son of Henry Herbert, 12th Earl of Carnavon and half-brother of George Herbert, XNUMXth Earl of Carnavon, who became famous for discovering the tomb of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh. Aubrey served two years as a diplomat, four years as an officer in the Irish Guards during the First World War and for XNUMX years the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Somerset and Yeovil. Educated at Eton and Oxford, Aubrey Herbert found himself in the ranks of very powerful friends such as: Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, the son of the British Prime Minister, Raymond Asquith, the historian writer Hilarie Belloc and the historian of the Scottish politician John Buchan.

He and his wife had four children, one of whom was a son. He was a defender of the Albanian cause and the only British politician who spoke about Albanian issues based on personal knowledge and experience. He lobbied hard for the state of the Albanians and for the borders to be established on the basis of ethnicity, not religion.

In January 1913 he chose influential people for the defense of the Albanian cause at the Conference of Ambassadors in London. He left the Balkan Committee of which he was a member, saying in a loud voice: I left because there are many bad old women there, who cannot even protest with any benefit at the massacres, and indeed feel a chilling pleasure in their minds as he went openly to protection of Albanians.

In 2002, the President of the Republic, Alfred Moisiu, awarded Aubrey Herbert the Order of Naim Frashëri posthumously with the motivation: For invaluable assistance in supporting the Albanian cause, in particular the Peace Conference and assistance for Albania's membership in the League of Nations. /Konica/