Oliver Schmitt

Who is Oliver Schmitt?

Oliver Jens Schmitt is a professor of South-East European history at Vienna University since 2005. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

His book Skanderbeg. Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, a critical biography of George Castrioti-Skanderbeg, caused a hot debate in Albania. A Swiss national daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger published the Schmitt's interview given to Enver Robelli in Tirana on 25 February 2009, in which it is emphasized that Schmitt claims that Skanderbeg's mother Voisava was Serbian, member of Brankovići noble family and that Kastrioti surname is probably derived from the Greek word. He was accused of committing sacrilege and sullying the Albanian national honor. The translator who translated his book from German to Albanian was accused for treason. Klosi committed suicide in Tirana on 26 April 2012.