Bahri Tufina
 | This article may be written from a fan's point of view, rather than a neutral point of view. (May 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) |
Bahri Tufina (January 11, 1923 – December 18, 1997) was an Albanian master watchmaker.
Biography[edit]
Bahri Tufina was a master watchmaker born on January 11, 1923, in Tirana, Albania. He came from a family of watchmakers, and his father and uncle worked for the Swiss company Eberhard while owning jewelry and trading businesses.[1] His family's connection to clockmaking dates back to 1822, when his ancestor Ismail Tufina assembled the clock mechanisms in the Tirana Clock Tower.[2] Bahri Tufina learned how to craft and repair different types of clocks and watches from his family, and he later became known for creating the first and only made-in-Albania timepiece, a table clock named "Tirana Alarm Clock"[3]
In 1940, Bahri Tufina traveled to Italy for kidney surgery and discovered his love for photography. He returned to Albania to continue working under the Tufina name. However, in 1948, after the establishment of communism with the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, he was imprisoned and tortured for almost one year under the Law of Extraordinary Confiscations. The communist party seized everything in his family’s possession, including their properties, shops, money, tools, watches, and jewelry.[4]
During the 1960s, he taught watchmaking at the Tirana Factory, which produced hundreds of new Albanian watchmakers including women, a rarity in a trade dominated by men, through its 2–3-year study programs. Bahri Tufina and Zija Tufina were responsible for maintaining the Clock Tower of Tirana until 1973, when they were prohibited from doing so by the communist regime. The reasons behind this decision are unclear, but it may have been due to the communist party's stance against wealthy families.
After the fall of communism in 1990 Bahri Tufina was deeply disappointed that the state failed to return or provide compensation for any of his family’s confiscated stores and properties in his later years. Due to this treatment Bahri’s grandson, Enis Tufina, the owner of Tufina Watches representing German brands “Theorema” and "Pionier,” decided to reestablish his family’s watchmaking activities after moving to Germany.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Pinjolli i "Tufinës" tregon sekretet e sahatçinjve të Tiranës". American Eye. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "Familja Tufina dhe historia e orës së Sahatit". Opinion.al (in shqip). 2018-04-27. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
- ↑ "102-vjet kryeqytet, Admirina Peçi sjell dokumentarin "Tirona e zotnive të papërkulur"! Si u tortuan në diktaturë "etërit" e kryeqytetit! Gazetarja: Disa prej viktimave nuk u dihen varret - Shqiptarja.com". shqiptarja.com (in shqip). Retrieved 2023-05-14.
- ↑ "Tufina, nga Kulla e Sahatit në brand ndërkombëtar orësh". Tv Klan (in shqip). 2018-10-27. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
This article "Bahri Tufina" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Bahri Tufina. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
