| Title | : | Traveler, Scholar, Political Adventurer: A Transylvanian Baron at the Birth of Albanian Independence: The memoirs of Franz Nopcsa |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 615522580X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9786155225802 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 250 |
| Publication | : | First published October 1, 2013 |
The Austro-Hungarian aristocrat of Transylvanian origin, Baron Franz Nopcsa (1877-1933), was one of the most adventuresome travelers and scholars of Southeast Europe in the early decades of the twentieth century. He was also a paleontologist of renown and a noted geologist of the Balkan Peninsula : many of his assumptions have been confirmed by science. The Memoirs of this fascinating figure deal mainly with his travels in the Balkans, and specifically in the remote and wild mountains of northern Albania, in the years from 1903 to 1914. They thus cover the period of Ottoman Rule, the Balkan Wars and the outbreak of the First World War. Nopcsa was a keen adventurer who hiked through regions of northern Albania. With time, he became a leading expert in Albanian studies. He was also deeply involved in the politics of the period. In 1913, Nopcsa even offered himself as a candidate for the vacant Albanian throne. The Introduction also tells of Nopcsa's tragic he shot his Albanian secretary and partner before killing himself. The memoirs themselves reveal some references to his homosexuality for those who can read between the lines.
Traveler, Scholar, Political Adventurer: A Transylvanian Baron at the Birth of Albanian Independence: The memoirs of Franz Nopcsa Reviews
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So, this isn’t your usual memoir. It’s largely a political history of Albania through the research trips and personal thoughts of Nopsca. There is very little of the info I would have liked—his relationship with Bajazid, the paleontological side of his research, etc. Really interesting, but my queer paleontologist remains mostly a mystery still.
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El libro se hace arduo porque detalla demasiado los asuntos políticos de principios del s XX en Albania, sin embargo conocer la faceta de Nopcsa como espía/"cónsul" es fascinante. Y que con toda esa labor además tuviese tiempo para detallar la geología y la paleontología adelantándose a su tiempo...