The man standing in the photo is American President Woodrow Wilson, whom historians agree saved Albania from dismemberment in 1919-20. He is, so to speak, the American Skanderbeg of the Albanians. This is what journalist Ilir Ikonomi writes on his FB profile, also publishing the letter that the renowned Albanian professor and researcher Kostë Çekrezi wrote to the nephew of American President Wilson. The president came to Washington in 1915 with his son-in-law, Francis B. Sayre Sr. and his newborn grandson. At the time this photo was taken, neither President Wilson nor his son-in-law had thought that they would ever have anything to do with the distant country called Albania.
When Sayre later studied at Harvard University, he happened to have a classmate, Kostë Çekrezi (1892-1959) from Ziçishti, Korça. Çekrezi had been the editor of the newspaper “Dielli” in Boston, before going to Harvard.
Later he was appointed a professor in Washington, returned to Albania to work as a journalist and became an opponent of King Zog. In 1935 he fled Albania, as a participant in a rebellion against the King, and ended up in France.
He needed a visa to return to America, so in January 1936 he wrote a letter to his former Harvard friend, Francis B. Sayre, who was now working as Assistant Secretary of State in the State Department. At that time, President Wilson was no longer alive.
I found Çekrezi's letter in the American archive and this part caught my attention where he reminds his former classmate how they met at Harvard in 1918:
"At that time, you were kind enough to show interest in Albanian affairs to such an extent that you willingly undertook to speak with the late President Wilson and, believe me, your intervention was quite helpful."
It is not known how much Çekrezi's friendship with his Harvard friend may have influenced Wilson to become familiar with the Albanian issue in 1918, when the First World War was coming to an end.
But, at that time, the Albanians of America were making efforts to get their word to the American president, in the hope that he would help Albania maintain its borders in the peace negotiations, which were expected to begin in Paris in 1919./ Memorie.al
