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[edit] Kosovo

Kosovo (Albanian: Kosovë/Kosova, Serbian: Kosovo), officially the Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Republika e Kosovës, Serbian: Република Косово/Republika Kosovo), is a landlocked country in southeastern Europe. Its declaration of independence on February 17, 2008 has been recognized by 37 sovereign nations, while it is disputed by Serbia, which lays claims over the entire Kosovar territory. Kosovo is home to an ancient pre-Roman civilization, has played a central role in the economy of various states and empires during the history, and has recently come out of one of the direst post-WWII military conflicts and genocides. It was liberated after a NATO bombing campaign that forced Yugoslavia to withdraw its troops from Kosovo. Administered by the United Nations for almost 9 years, Kosovo has established a democratic form of government and has greatly recovered from the consequents of war.

Kosovo is bordered by Albania, Macedonia, Serbia, and Montenegro. Its capital and largest city is Prishtina.

Kosovo is a parliamentary republic, whose principles value the multiethnic composition and its cultural heritage. Ethnic Albanians make up 92% of the population, Serbs around 5%, while other communities add up to 3%. Albanian and Serbian are national co-official languages, while other minority languages enjoy official status at the local and municipal level. Though one of poorest economies in Europe, the youngest population in the continent, vast mineral resources, as well as foreign aid from the West are prospective assets in Kosovo’s aspired economic development and its accession into the European Union.

[edit] University of Prishtina

The University of Prishtina (Albanian: Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Prishtina, Kosovo. Opened in 1970, it is oldest and largest university in Kosovo, serving nearly 30,000 students^[1] in 17 faculties.

[edit] History

The National and University Library in Prishtina

The University of Prishtina was established by a law ratified in the Assembly of the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo (then part of federal Yugoslavia) on November 18, 1969. The formal inauguration was held on February 15, 1970, with the university comprising of four faculties: philosophy, law-economics, engineering, and medical school.^[2] By the time the university was officially founded, a network of several higher learning institutions had been building up in Prishtina since 1958.^[3]

The establishment of the university was a momentous episode of the Kosovar history and the advancement of the ethnic Albanian in Kosovo and elsewhere in the former Yugoslavia. The university was a bilingual institution, however, offering courses in Albanian and Serbian.

The number of students increased steadily as did the various departments and programs within the first 10 years of the university’s history. In 1980-1981, the student body hit a record of 43,544 members, with 31,073 Albanian-speaking students, and 12,248 attending classes in Serbian. As many as 755 international students, mainly from Greece, attended the University of Prishtina during the 1980s.^[4]

A former dental office in Prishtina, where students performed laboratory sessions during the ban on Albanian education by the Milosevic regime in the 1990s

By the end of the 1980s, the number of students had dropped by a quarter due to the implementation of a restrictive education policy and the exacerbation of the state of the Albanian population in the former Yugoslavia. The 1981 demonstrations, organized by UP students, in demand of a Republic of Kosovo with the Yugoslav federation, were an indication of the dissatisfaction of the Albanian population with the Serbian control over Kosovo.

With the rise to power of Slobodan Milosević as president of Serbia, secondary and higher education in the Albanian language were brought to an end, effectuating the expulsion of the Albanian students and faculty from university premises. Nevertheless, the university underwent a period of mere survival as lectures were conducted in private homes and funding was provided by voluntary tax payments to the government-in-exile of the Republic of Kosova. In the meantime, assistance and cooperation was offered by the University of Tirana, a well-established Albanian-language institution.^[5]

After the Kosovo War (1997-1999), the university was relocated to its legal premises and began a new phase of development, reforms and cooperation with other educational institutions.

[edit] Faculties

1. The Faculty of Philosophy
2. The Faculty of Mathematical-Natural Science
3. The Philological Faculty
4. The Faculty of Law
5. The Faculty of Economics
6. The Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture
7. The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering
8. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
9. The Medical Faculty
10. The Faculty of Arts
11. The Faculty of Agriculture
12. The Faculty of Mining and Metallurgy
13. The Faculty of Physical Culture and Sports
14. The Faculty of Education
15. The Faculty of Applied Business Science in Peja
16. The Faculty of Applied Science in Mitrovica
17. The Faculty of Applied Science in Ferizaj

[edit] International Summer University

Since 2001, the University of Prishtina has organized an annual summer university that has attracted numerous professors, lecturers and students from abroad. The 2007 ISU hosted 400 students, 250 from Kosovo and 150 international participants from the Balkans, Western Europe and elsewhere. In an intensive three-week program, students are offered a variety of 15 classes, may participate in a series of public forums as well as other events organized by the university and its partners.

[edit] Personalities

Bill Clinton, President of the United States, being awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Prishtina

[edit] Doctors of Honor

• Bill Clinton, President of the United States, 2003
• Josip Broz Tito, President of Yugoslavia, 1975
• Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, President of India, 1975
• Bernard Kouchner, SRSG for Kosovo, French Foreign Minister, 2002
• Ismail Kadare, Albanian writer, 2003
• Bamir Topi, President of Albania, 2008

[edit] Notable alumni

• Fatmir Sejdiu, President of Kosovo, also former professor
• Hashim Thaçi, Prime Minister of Kosovo, former student vice-rector

[edit] Faculty members

• Haris Silajdžić, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina, former professor of Arabic^[6]
• Fatmir Sejdiu, President of Kosovo, former professor of law
• Nexhat Daci, former Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, former professor of chemistry

[edit] See also

• State University of Tetovo
• University of Tirana

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website of the University of Prishtina

v • d • e Universities in Kosovo University of Prishtina · American University in Kosovo · Iliria Royal University · AAB University · University of Prizren

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[edit] History of Kosovo

Main article: History of Kosovo

[edit] Ancient and medieval periods

Kosovo was known in antiquity and up to the 19th century as Dardania^[1] (from Albanian word dardhë = pear; literally Pearland) after the Illyrian tribe Dardani.^[2][3] Historical sources mention a Kingdom of Dardania as early as 4th century B.C., which included Kosovo and parts of surrounding areas.^[4] Prominent kings include Longarus, Monunius, and Bato, who engaged in frequent wars against Macedon and achieved numerous successful victories.^[5] There is also an account of wars with the Celts. Dardania was well-known for its gold resources and ancient writings describe the Dardani as fine producers of jewels. Major cities included Damastion, Naissus (Nis, Serbia), Scupi (Skopje, Macedonia), and Ulpiana.^[6]

Dardania was conquered by Rome in the late 1st century B.C. and gave the Roman Empire some of its most outstanding emperors, including Constantine the Great. Christianity was spread in the country in its initial phases, while individuals like Niketas Dardani, authored the early Christian hymnals.

Following the barbarian invasions between the 5th and 8th century, Dardania became a safe haven for the preservation of Illyrian culture and language as well as the heritage of the Romanized population, and remained part of the Byzantine empire.^[7] In the 9th century, Dardania was conquered by the Bulgarian empire. Later it was briefly returned to the Byzantines, before the Serbian invasion in the late 12th century. In the next 100 years, the Serbs established their rule over Kosovo. During this time, the seat of the Serbian Orthodox Church was moved to Peja,^[8] while the natural resources allowed for a further expansion of the Serbian state. With the creation of a Serbian empire in the 1346 century, Dardania became a central geographical unit of the Serbian state. This fact and the presence of the Serbian Orthodoxy in the region has given rise to the Serbian cultural belief regarding Kosovo as the “cradle of the Serbian civilization.”

In 1389, in the famous Battle of Kosovo a coalition of Christian armies including Serbs, Albanians, Bosnians and Hungarians, led by the Serbian prince Lazar Hrebljanovic was defeated by the Ottoman Turks, who finally took control of the territory in 1455. During the intervening years, some Serbian lords were granted the power to rule as vassals of the Ottoman Sultan, who used them as a means of quelling liberation movements from any of the Balkan nations. In the Second Battle of Kosovo, the Turkish vassal, Djuradj Brankovic, barricaded the Albanian leader Gjergj Kastrioti from joining with the Hungarian army of Janos Hunyadi, who faced a weighty defeat.

[edit] Ottoman rule

See also: Vilayet of Kosovo

Kosovo Vilayet, 1875-1878.

The Ottoman conquest of Kosovo was a major achievement for the Turks, as the Kosovar rich minerals would prove a great asset to their empire. The establishment of Ottoman institutions in Kosovo brought about a new era. Heavy religiously-selective taxation and education of the Kosovar aristocracy in Ottoman schools led to a mass conversion of the Christian population into Islam. The new religion was embraced by approximately two-thirds of the Albanians and a portion of the Slavs, while it slightly improved their status by ruling out threats of annihilation, it did not eliminate the struggle against the Ottoman regime.^[9]

Kosovo was a typical redoubt of defiant people who fought against the new regime in quest for their national liberty. As a result, many Albanian highlanders retained some autonomy and were allowed to apply their customary law (mainly the Kanun of Lekë Dukagjini). Nevertheless, examples of Ottoman attempts to give an end to this practice are abundant; the heroine Nora of the Kelmendi clan earned a distinguished place in Kosovar history by assassinating the Ottoman leader in Kosovo.^[10]

During the Ottoman period, nonetheless, there was recorded a great amount of endeavors to promote the Albanian language and culture. The Catholic cleric who authored the earliest known Albanian book, Gjon Buzuku, is believed to have been of Kosovar origin. Moreover, the Catholic bishop, Pjetër Bogdani, a native of Kosovo, published his classic Band of the Prophets in 1686, and later headed the anti-Ottoman movement. His engagement in the national cause culminated in 1689, when he raised a 20,000-member army comprised of Christian and Muslim Albanians, who joined the Austrians in their war against Turkey. The campaign resulted in a brief liberation of Kosovo, but after a plague breakout among Austrians and Kosovars, the Turks soon recovered all their lost areas. Bogdani himself died in December 1689, while his remains were inhumanely exhumed by Turks and Tatars and fed to dogs.^[11] The loss had a negative impact on the wellbeing all inhabitants of Kosovo, whose liberation was not realized in an 18th-century Austrian endeavor either.

[edit] Albanian national movement

The Albanian national movement was inspired by various reasons. Besides from the National Renaissance that had been promoted by Albanian activists, political reasons were a contributing factor. In the 1870s the Ottoman Empire experienced a tremendous contraction in territory and defeats in wars against Slavic monarchies of Europe. During the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish war, the Serbian troops invaded the northeastern part of the province of Kosovo deporting 160,000 ethnic Albanians from 640 localities. Furthermore, the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano marked the beginning of a difficult situation for the Albanian people in the Balkans, whose lands were to be ceded from Turkey to Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria.^[12][13][14]

Fearing the partitioning of Albanian-inhabited lands among the newly founded Balkan kingdoms, the Albanians established their League of Prizren on June 10, 1878, three days prior to the Congress of Berlin that would revise the decisions of San Stefano.^[15] Though the League was founded with the support of the Sultan who hoped for the preservation of Ottoman territories, the Albanian leaders were quick and effective enough to turn it into a national organization and eventually into a government. The League had the backing of the Italo-Albanian community and had well developed into a unifying factor for the religiously-diverse Albanian people. During its three years of existence the League sought the creation of an Albanian autonomous state within the Ottoman Empire, raised an army and fought a defensive war. In 1881 a provisional government was formed to administer Albania under the presidency of Ymer Prizreni, assisted by prominent ministers such as Abdyl Frashëri and Sulejman Vokshi. Nevertheless, military intervention from the Balkan states, the Great Powers as well as Turkey divided the Albanian troops in three fronts, which brought about the end of the League.^[16][17][18]

Kosovo was yet home to other Albanian organizations, the most important being the League of Peja, named after the city in which it was founded in 1899. It was led by Haxhi Zeka, a former member of the League of Prizren and shared a similar platform in quest for an autonomous Albania. The League ended its activity in 1900 after an armed conflict with the Ottoman forces. Zeka was assassinated by a Serbian agent in 1902 with the backing of the Ottoman authorities.^[19]

[edit] Independence of Albania and the Balkan Wars

The demands of the Young Turks in early 20th century sparked support from the Albanians, who were hoping for a betterment of their national status, primarily recognition of their language for use in offices and education.^[20][21] In 1908, 20,000 armed Albanian peasants gathered in Ferizaj to prevent any foreign intervention, while their leaders, Bajram Curri and Isa Boletini, sent a telegram to the sultan demanding the promulgation of a constitution and the opening of the parliament. The Albanians did not receive any of the promised benefits from the Young Turkish victory. Considering this, an unsuccessful uprising was organized by Albanian highlanders in Kosovo in February 1909. The adversity escalated after the takeover of the Turkish government by an oligarchic group later that year. In April 1910, armies led by Idriz Seferi and Isa Boletini rebelled against the Turkish troops, but were finally forced to withdraw after having caused many casualties amongst the enemy.^[22]

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