Oliver_Jens_Schmitt
Oliver Schmitt
Swiss historian
Oliver Jens Schmitt (born 15 February 1973 in Basel) is a professor of South-East European history at Vienna University since 2005. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.[1]
His book Skanderbeg. Der neue Alexander auf dem Balkan, a critical biography of George Castrioti-Skanderbeg, caused a hot debate in Albania.[2] A Swiss national daily newspaper Tages-Anzeiger published 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, a member of the Branković family and that the Kastrioti surname probably is derived from Greek word kastron (fort).[3] He was accused of committing sacrilege and sullying the Albanian national honor.[4] Ardian Klosi, who translated his book from German to Albanian, was accused of treason.[5]