Original text from KOHA by author Noble Minci.
Hasan Masurica realized this project in 1899, 4 years before the Wright brothers (Wilbur and Orville Wright) who built the airplane with an engine and flew in the sky in 1903. At the time Masurica was only 30 years old. He passed away in Gjilan in 1942, at the age of 73.
Hasan Masurica’s discoveries include the construction of the tricycle, the precise wall clock, the windmill and the water mill in the village of Zarbicë in Bujanoci, the mill for grinding coffee, the precision scale, until in 1899 he built the airplane, which climbed 50 to 70 meters up above the village of Zarbicë in the direction of Vranje and passed nearly four kilometers.
Reading the atlas of European innovators made me see the name of the early Albanian innovator, Hasan Masurica, for the first time. But, after being interested, he realized that this name was missing from the textbooks that are in use in Kosovo schools. For this reason, the civil society activist from Prizren, Emir Hukallo, with his friends has taken the initiative to promote, namely the inclusion of the innovator, Hasan Masurica, in the textbooks, so that even the new generations get to know his discoveries. They consider such a thing as a moral obligation towards the rare Albanian innovator.
“The most important dimension that should be taught in our schools about Hasan Masurica has to do with the gratitude that we, as his grandchildren, must express to him for the contribution he made through his discoveries,” said Hukallo.
According to him, Hasan Masurica’s discoveries were the construction of the tricycle, the precise wall clock, the windmill and the water mill in the village of Zarbicë in Bujanoci, the mill for grinding coffee, the precision scale, until in 1899 he built the airplane, which climbed 50 to 70 meters above the village of Zarbicë in the direction of Vranje and traveled nearly four kilometers, then the rifle with one, five and twenty-five cartridges, which he demonstrated in front of Sultan Abdul Hamid in Istanbul, while from 1914 to 1925 made the calendar, in which he determined the position and path of the planets in the universe from the year ’52 to the end of the year 1952 of our era.
The airplane of the Albanian innovator
Lack of innovator in textbooks
“Starting from the principle, which says: ‘We are what others remember when our name is mentioned’, the promotion of Hasan Masurica first among our people and then even more widely will influence the increase of self-confidence in our population that we too can contribute to the good of humanity. In addition, while we promote it in the outside world, the image of our country in the international arena will improve.
If when discipline is mentioned we remember the Japanese, when the army is mentioned we remember the Turks, when steel processing is mentioned we remember the Swedes, when trade is mentioned we remember the Arabs, then the promotion of this innovative colossus will be the reason for the world to remember the Albanians, whether when the first flight is mentioned, let it be the weapon with a series of shots”, Hukallo stated.
Hukallo considers that the non-inclusion of such an innovator in the textbooks “makes us angry with ourselves”. “His inclusion in the texts is first of all an illumination of our historical truths… Therefore, starting from these facts that we mentioned, we call on the Minister of Education to consider the contribution of Hasan Masurica and make the activity its part of the textbooks. In this way, this innovator can be taught in technical high school subjects such as: Introduction to industry, Introduction to electricity, Introduction to traffic and similar subjects like these”, said Hukallo.
Similarly to him, his friend, Beni Kizolli, who is currently the director of Urbanism in the Municipality of Prizren and a university lecturer, through an open letter has appealed to the Minister of Education, that the scientific achievements of Hasan Masurica be included in school textbooks . “These scientific achievements of Hasan Masurica are values particularly born in us, but universally necessary for all humanity. It is an imperative need to channelize and enter into school curricula in directions that are taught in technical high schools in Kosovo. In addition to carrying the general knowledge about contemporary science, they are also a message for the Albanian student, that science and knowledge do not have an address, they are innate talents”, it is said, among other things, in Kizolli’s open letter.
Short biography of Masurica
Based on the data published in the monograph “Hasan Masurica – Innovator” by the late author, Kadri Halimi, Hasan Islami, popularly known as Hasan Masurica, was born on January 22, 1869, in the village of Krilevë, today the Municipality of Kamenica. After completing the eight-year school (Ruzhdije) in Gjilan, Hasan completed the normal school for teachers (Darul Mualimin) in Skopje in 1907. He worked as a mosque imam and teacher in the villages of Zarbicë, Dobërçan and Muçivërc. Hasan Masurica died in the village of Mučivërc in Kamenica in 1942.
During his life, he was involved in scientific research and innovations, such as the above-mentioned discoveries.
“Hasan Masurica, after completing the eight-year primary school, due to the migration of two brothers to Turkey and the death of the third brother very early, as well as due to economic circumstances, stopped schooling for a long time and stayed at home. During that time, he had built a small workshop in his house, namely in Plevica in Gjilan, and was dealing with innovations. He first made sketches on paper and then realized them in work. Thus, in 1899, Hasan Masurica built the airplane (balloon) from poplar boards and waxed fabrics, in the village of Zarbicë in the district (kazaja) of Vranje, with which his son, 12-year-old Muharrem, rose in the air 50 to 70 meters up, crossing a distance of nearly four kilometers”, the monograph states.
Rifles demonstrated before the Sultan
According to the author, Halimi even demonstrated the rifles with one, five and twenty-five cartridges in front of Sultan Abdul Hamid in Istanbul.
“Sultan Hamidi is amazed by the function of the rifles that Hasan Masurica had constructed, so he promises him good working conditions and a fabulous reward in Istanbul. However, Azemi, Sherif and Osman Sedllari, who were well informed about the upheavals in Turkey, and especially about the preparation of the uprising of the ruled peoples of the Balkans, i.e. the Albanians against the Ottoman Empire, after a secret conversation with Hasan Masurica, one night Hasan throws the sketches and weapons into the Bosphorus and, helped by his natives, escapes from Dollma Bahçeja and, dressed as a dervish, manages to cross the border in Edirne and return to Kosovo.
In 1909, Hasan Masurica joined many prominent patriots of Gjilan and the surrounding area for the opening of Albanian schools in Gjilan and its villages”, the author Halimi announced, emphasizing that in the Balkan War he took an active part against the Bulgarian army in the villages of today’s Albanian commune of Vranje and Bujanoci, in which case he was wounded in the face, and in 1916, when the Bulgarians burned the village of Zarbicë, where he was engaged in innovations, they burned his house and the very rich library with about 400 specimens.
For these commitments, in May 2017, the President of the Republic of Albania, Bujar Nishani, awarded Hasan Masurica (post mortem) the “Golden Eagle Decoration”, respectively “for his patriotic activity and bravery shown against the invaders Bulgarians, as well as in high state appreciation for the contribution made to the opening of schools in the Albanian language in Gjilan”.
According to Hukallos, now is the time for Kosovo to fulfill its obligation, giving the early innovator the space he deserves in the textbooks, “so that he can be a source of inspiration for new generations and future scientists”.
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References
https://www.koha.net/en/arberi/inovatori-i-hershem-shqiptar-qe-mungon-ne-tekstet-mesimore
Balkan Academia 