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wouldn’t have any influence. Despite this, I wrote it saying that Albanians whether
they are Orthodox or Muslims, are brothers. I mentioned the Albanian origin of his
(Spiro Milo) family and begged him not to cause bloodshed between populations of
the same country, otherwise we would attack.
Of course, I received no answer. Instead of that, a strong Cretan-Himariote detachment
assaulted the pass (Bej Vlorë 2001: 307 in Jorgji 2006a: 6, translated by Juliana Vera).
In the continuation of his essay Jorgji comments that Spiro Milo sent a letter of reply to
Eqerem Bej of Vlorë after all. But this is not known to contemporary Albanian
historiography. The letter was published in the work of the Italian author Cassavetti (1914) in
the book titled Hellas and the Balkan Wars. In his letter to Eqerem Spiro Milo writes:
You say that Italy and Austria will settle the Albanian principality. We are waiting for
its rise and we shall celebrate such an event. Even if we prove our brotherhood in this
principality we will keep our noble sentiments which will always stay the same. We
will not forget that you are our brothers who were separated from us since you denied
our religion. It seems really necessary to remind the inhabitants of Kuçi that they used
to be Christians 90 years ago and have relatives among the inhabitants of Himara. The
very name of Gjoleka indicates the religion to which Shefqet Bey’s ancestors
belonged. As for your threats I believe you refer them neither to Spiro Milo nor to the
inhabitants of Chimara, for even the children of Gjoleka know that we are used to
Mausers and Martini rifles in the same way as they are. It is not the other who threats
and hides himself behind, but that other has never fought before nor have his
ancestors. Somebody is fighting for him. But this somebody is fighting neither for
himself nor for his forefathers (Cassavetti 1914: 237-239 in Jorgji 2006a: 6, translated
by Juliana Vera).
In the collection of essays published by the Albanian Academy of Sciences the national
historian Muin Çami links the local hero Spiro Milo to the separatist’s movement in
Himarë/Himara, which contributed to the formation of the autonomy in this area. In 1914 this
autonomy was confirmed with the Protocol of Corfu, signed by the Great Powers. Çami
writes that in this period the people of Himarë/Himara had ambiguous attitudes towards
nationality:
The people of Himarë were divided in two groups. The first and the largest group
supported the decisions made by the parliament in Vlorë, while the second group
adopted the separatists (pro-Greek) attitude. The group of separatists was led by Spiro
Milo who proclaimed the autonomy of the area. Spiro Milo was an important figure of
the separatists’ movement in southern Albania (Çami 2004: 210, translations mine).
While to many local intellectuals the Protocol of Corfu represents the confirmation of the
local people’s Greekness, in the national historiography this agreement is scarcely mentioned
(cf. Frashëri 2005) or its interpretation is often grounded on different positions (cf. Çami
2004: 196, Prifti 2004: 190). Prifti, for example, gives an account about the protest of
Himarë/Himara people against their association with Greece:
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