I have a question for you. If you had to sit
down right now and write a list of the most honorable
people in your country, not the richest, not
the most famous, but the most honorable, who
makes the cut? Wow. That is a surprisingly difficult
question. You immediately run into the problem
of definition. Right. Because are we talking
about bravery? Are we talking about charity?
Or is it something stiffer? i don't know moral
rectitude exactly and then once you figure out
the criteria you have to actually pick the winners
is it the soldier is it the poet the nurse or
and just stay with me here is it the high school
down the street or the public library yeah or
the football team the entire team it sounds like
a hypothetical dinner party game but this is
actually a matter of state law it is Today, we
are doing a deep dive into a really fascinating
topic based on a comprehensive Wikipedia article.
We're looking at the honor of the nation decoration.
Right. The decorata in Derry I combat in Albanian.
Yes. The honor of the nation. And this isn't
just some participation trophy. The source is
very clear that this is the highest civil decoration
the Republic of Albania can bestow. And what
I love about this deep dive is that by analyzing
who gets this medal. And what gets this medal?
We get a really clear picture of how a country
defines itself. We have the legal history, the
exact criteria, and a very eclectic list of recipients.
Our mission today is to basically unpack that
list. We want to understand the specific rules
of honor, according to the Albanian government,
and then see how those rules play out in reality.
Because, spoiler alert, Jim Belushi is involved.
He is indeed. But before we get to Hollywood,
we should probably start with the paperwork.
The source material outlines the origin of the
award, which centers on law number 8113. Passed
on March 28th, 1996. That date is crucial. Context
is everything here. In 1996, Albania is only
a few years out from the collapse of a very strict,
very isolated communist regime. The country is
trying to figure out what it is in this new era.
So the old medals, the hero of socialist labor
types, those are gone. Exactly. They need new
symbols for a new democratic era. And so this
law, which instituted the award, is basically
a rebranding exercise for the nation's values.
Though it didn't stay static, right? The source
mentions it was amended later by Law No. 112
in 2013, which updated the whole system of decorations,
honorific titles, and medals. Yes, but the core
hierarchy remained. At the very top of the civil
pyramid sits the honor of the nation. Visually
and legally, it is a state decoration awarded
specifically by the president of Albania. It's
the state looking you in the eye and saying,
you represent the best of us. Okay, so how do
I get one? The law lays out specific criteria.
It's defined as a token of gratitude and recognition,
but it's not enough to just be generally good.
No, the text mentions two very specific metrics.
You need acts and you need a good name. Acts
is the easy part, I think. That's your resume.
Did you win the championship? Did you read the
great novel? Did you negotiate the peace treaty?
Yeah, those are tangible things you can point
to. But good name? That feels incredibly subjective.
It sounds like something my grandmother would
worry about. You know, oh, you're ruining your
good name. It does feel a bit old fashioned,
but legally it's fascinating. It implies that
honor is not just about output. It's about character.
You could be the most talented scientist in the
world, but if you're a known fraudster, you constantly
trash talk the nation, you don't have a good
name. So it fuses capability with reputation.
The two have to go hand in hand to earn this.
Exactly. The source quotes the criteria specifically
as personalities who, by their acts and good
name, contribute to honoring the Albanian nation.
It's a holistic view. You really can't separate
the art from the artist here. Now, there are
two provisions in this law that I found really
surprising. The first is about geographic scope.
The source says the acts can be performed inside
and outside of the country. This is huge. For
many countries, national awards are for people
who actually live there. But Albania has a massive
diaspora. There are millions of Albanians living
in Italy, Greece, the U .S., Switzerland. So
this clause is essentially a way of tethering
them back to the homeland. Absolutely. It's the
state saying, we don't care if you haven't lived
in Toronto since 1990. If you do something great
in New York or London that reflects well on us,
we claim you. It turns the diaspora into a strategic
asset. And then the second surprise. Nationality
scope. You don't actually have to be an Albanian
citizen to be the honor of the nation. Correct.
The award is explicitly granted to Albanian citizens
and foreign nationals. Which seems like a contradiction
in terms. How can someone from outside the country
be the honor of the Albanian nation? It redefines
the concept of a nation. It's not just a closed
circle of citizens holding passports. If a foreigner
defends Albanian interests or elevates the culture
globally, They become part of the national story.
So it's a very inclusive idea of nationalism.
Very much so. But before anyone gets any ideas
about just applying for this online, the nomination
process is pretty tight. It's not just the president
waking up and picking a name. Right. Proposals
can come from a few places. The president of
the republic can propose someone. The speaker
of the assembly. The prime minister. And independent
institutions relevant to this specific field.
Which distributes the power a bit. It ensures
that experts in science or art can push their
best people forward. OK, so that's the legal
framework. High stakes, character counts, borders
are porous. Now I want to look at the reality.
Because when you scan the list of recipients
provided in the Wikipedia article, it is, well,
eclectic is a polite word for it. It is a genuinely
wild mix. I expected generals. I expected politicians.
And sure, some of those are there. But then I
saw the sports collectives. Specifically, the
Albanian national football team is a recipient.
Yes. Not just a star player, but the entity of
the team. Think about that for a second. We are
talking about the highest civil decoration, the
same award you might give to a surgeon who revolutionizes
medicine. And we're giving it to a soccer team.
It speaks volumes about the modern role of sports
in national identity. When the Albanian national
team qualifies for a major tournament. That does
more for Albania's good name globally than a
thousand diplomatic summits. So the act is playing
well and the good name is the sheer pride and
visibility they generate. Exactly. They aren't
just athletes in that moment. They are a projection
of the nation's confidence and unity. OK, I can
wrap my head around the sports team. But then
I saw the institutions. The completely inanimate
objects. The list includes the Universite di
Luigi Guricucci. Yes, a university. And the 28
and Tori Gymnasium. And we should probably clarify
for our listeners who might not be familiar with
the European system. A gymnasium isn't a place
with basketball hoops and locker rooms. Right.
It's an elite academic high school, a preparatory
school. So it's a school. But still, it's a building
with classrooms and chalkboards. Imagine a country
giving its absolute highest medal of honor to
a local high school. It feels weird. It does
feel strange at first glance, but I think it's
actually quite profound. By awarding the institution
itself, the state is acknowledging that culture
and excellence don't just happen in a vacuum.
They are manufactured. Manufacture how? By the
teachers. By the environment. Yeah. The 28 Mentori
Gymnasium, for example, have a deep history.
These institutions are where the language was
preserved, where the next generation of intellectuals
were trained. By giving the medal to the school,
the state is saying this infrastructure is heroic.
That is a really cool way to look at it. We love
to worship the great man, right? The singular
genius. But the genius had to learn to read somewhere.
Precisely. You cannot have the great writer without
the school that taught them. You can't have the
scientists without the university. They are recognizing
the foundation. And speaking of foundations,
the Bibliotheca Combatera is on the list. The
National Library. Yes. Think about the criteria
again. Acts. And good name. Does a library have
a good name? I mean, I guess it does, as long
as they don't charge exorbitant late fees. Well,
in a philosophical sense, an institution definitely
has a moral standing. A library is the guardian
of a nation's memory. If it preserves the history
faithfully, it has honor. If it lets the books
rot... It has dishonor. So the state is treating
these institutions as living, breathing moral
agents. It elevates them. It says that maintaining
a library is a patriotic act equal to defending
a border. There's also an entire municipality
on the list, Bashkir Kukiz, the town council
of Kukiz. That is almost certainly related to
the Kosovo War in the late 90s. Kukiz is a relatively
small town in northern Albania. But during the
conflict, it hosted hundreds of thousands of
refugees fleeing across the border. They were
actually nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for
that effort. Ah, so that makes perfect sense.
The act was humanitarian aid on a massive, unprecedented
scale. But again, look at how they awarded it.
They didn't just give the medal to the mayor.
They gave it to the municipality. to the people
of the town as a collective. It really decenters
the ego. It's not about one person saying, I
did this. It's formal recognition that we did
this. It's a very refreshing perspective on what
constitutes national heroism. I also notice an
association on the list, the Shakada Tarana.
Yes. The Tirana Association, again, honoring
a collective group dedicated to preserving the
cultural and social heritage of the capital.
It's all about recognizing the groups that hold
the fabric of the society together. OK, let's
pivot from the collectives back to the individuals.
Because if the library was a surprise, the celebrities
were a shock. We talked earlier about that outside
the country rule and the foreign nationals clause.
There is one name on this list that I think almost
everyone knows. You're talking about Jim Belushi.
I am. The guy from, according to Jim, the guy
from K9, the Blues Brother. He is the honor of
the nation. He is indeed. Explain this to me.
I know he's famous. I know he's funny. But does
starring in an American sitcom constitute honor
of the Albanian nation? You have to look at this
through the lens of soft power. Albania is a
small country. For a long time during the Cold
War, it was known for being totally closed off.
Later, maybe for regional conflict, having a
bona fide Hollywood star who goes on American
talk shows and says, I am Albanian. I am proud
of my heritage. That is worth its weight in gold.
So he's basically functioning as a cultural ambassador
without the diplomatic passport. Exactly. He
validates the identity on a massive global stage.
The state awarding him is a way to lock that
relationship in. It's a way of saying, Jim, you
aren't just an American with Albanian parents.
You belong to us. It's clever. It's essentially
a very prestigious thank you note for the PR.
And he's not the only one in the arts. You have
Inva Mula on the list. The opera singer. The
world -class soprano. For listeners who might
not follow opera, if you've seen the sci -fi
movie The Fifth Element, there's that famous
scene with the blue alien diva singing that impossibly
high song. That is Inva Mula's voice. No way.
I had no idea that was her. It is. So you have
elite high culture opera sitting right next to
Hollywood comedy on this list. And then you have
Ismail Kader. Who is in a totally different category
of cultural impact. He is the literary giant
of Albania. A perennial Nobel contender. Winner
of the International Booker Prize. He documented
the Albanian soul and the machinery of totalitarianism.
for decades. So the list includes the pop culture
export with Belushi, the high art virtuoso with
Moolah, and the intellectual heavyweight with
Kader. It really shows that the definition of
honor is broad. It covers entertainment, fine
art, and literature. They all contribute to that
good name in different but equally valid ways.
We also see athletes honored as individuals,
not just as part of the football team. Panajot
Pano is there, Nora Gakova. And Majlinda Kalmendi.
Majlinda Kalmendi is an absolute legend, a judo
champion. Now, she famously won Kosovo's first
Olympic gold medal, but she is on the Albanian
Honor of the Nation list, too. This touches on
the ethnicity aspect we discussed. She is an
ethnic Albanian from Kosovo. Ah, so the award
ignores the political border to recognize the
broader ethnic nation. It reinforces that inside
and outside the country idea. Yes. The political
map is different from the cultural map, and the
decoration bridges that gap perfectly. Now, I
want to talk about a specific pattern I noticed
in the data from the source. I was scrolling
through the dates of when these awards were given
out. Usually they are granted one at a time,
maybe two. But on July 11th, 2017, there was
a bulk drop. Ah, the Curiazzi family cluster.
Right. Five people with the same family connection,
all awarded on the exact same day. Let me read
the names. Chris Adaco, Gerasim Curiazzi, Jerje
Curiazzi. Parashkevi Kiriazi and Sevasti Kiriazi.
This is one of the most fascinating stories in
the entire Wikipedia article. Who are they and
why did they all get the highest honor in the
country on a random Tuesday in 2017? They weren't
a basketball starting five. No, they were something
much more foundational. They were the educators
of the nation. Sevasti and Parashkevi Kiriazi,
the sisters, are often referred to as the mothers
of Albanian education. They opened the first
Albanian school for girls in Corse back in 1891.
Wait, 1891? So this is a posthumous award. Very
posthumous. This is the state reaching back more
than a century to officially correct the historical
record. Why did the record need correcting? Because...
During the communist era, history was heavily
managed. Some figures were celebrated, but others
were sidelined. The Curiazzi family were Protestants,
and they had strong ties to American and British
missionaries. They didn't fit the strict communist
narrative, so their immense contributions were
often minimized. So July 11th, 2017 was essentially
a canonization. It was the modern state saying,
we are officially putting you back in the center
of the pantheon where you belong. Exactly. And
it wasn't just about the girl school. Girgirj
and the others were heavily involved in the Congress
of Monaster in 1908. That was the conference
where intellectuals gathered to decide what alphabet
the Albanian language would officially use. They
literally helped pick the alphabet. They did.
So when we talk about the criteria of acts, helping
to decide the very letters that the nation's
laws and literature will be written in is a pretty
definitive act. That really puts Jim Belushi
in perspective. I mean, I like canine, but inventing
the alphabet is a tough act to follow. It certainly
raises the bar. But it shows the incredible utility
of the award. It connects the foundational figures
of the 19th century with the pop culture figures
of the 21st. It draws a continuous line through
history and says, this is all part of our story.
I noticed an interesting omission, though. With
all these massive historical figures, Mother
Teresa isn't on this specific list. That's right.
She has other massive honors and institutions
named after her, but she isn't listed under this
specific decoration in the source. However...
You do see other massive cultural icons. You
have Djurgjei Fishta, the great Franciscan friar
and poet. You have Vassila, the iconic singer.
The diversity of the names is staggering. Speaking
of diversity, there is one more category of person
on this list that we need to address, the complete
outsider. We mentioned the Four National Clause
earlier, and I saw the name Rosen Plevnaliev.
The former president of Bulgaria. Right. So why
does the president of Bulgaria get the honor
of the nation for Albania? Did he open a historic
school? Did he star in a sitcom? This is where
we leave the realm of pure sentiment and enter
the realm of hard diplomacy. State decorations
are a currency. A currency, like trading favors.
Think of it like a high -level diplomatic gift.
When a foreign head of state visits or when you
want to solidify a strategic alliance, you exchange
honors. Plevnalia was a very strong supporter
of Balkan integration and EU expansion. Giving
him the highest civil honor is a way of sealing
that friendship. It feels a little more transactional
than honoring the local library or the Kiryasi
sisters. It is transactional. But that's statecraft.
It serves a very real purpose. It says we value
our geopolitical relationship with Bulgaria so
much that we're giving you our best medal. So
if we look at the list as a whole, it's this
incredible tapestry. It's a mix of genuine national
heroes, strategic diplomatic allies, soft power
celebrities and inanimate institutions. If you
looked at just one name out of context, it might
seem totally random. You'd ask, why is the guy
from the sitcom here? Why is the high school
here? But when you step back and look at the
whole list, you see the actual priorities of
the state. They prioritize history, education,
international recognition, and unity. Before
we wrap up, I want to double check the history
of the award itself. The source has some interesting
documentation. We said the law was from 1996,
but is this a brand new idea for the country?
Not entirely. The article references a book called
Ligi Per Decorata, The Law on Decorations. And
it also cites books on Albanian metals by authors
like Filipram Bulaku and Artin Lame. Right. I
saw that. And the historical context mentioned
in one of those titles was from Prince Vidi until
today. Yes. Prince Vidi, or Wilhelm Vidi, was
a German prince appointed to rule Albania for
a very short, very chaotic period in 1914. But
the point the authors make is that even back
then, the state knew it needed symbols. You need
ribbons, stars, and medals to create a hierarchy
of loyalty and shared values. So the 1996 law
establishing the honor of the nation is really
just the modern democratic iteration of a very
old state impulse. Exactly. Every government,
no matter the era, needs a structured way to
say... good job to the people who build the nation.
So let's bring this whole deep dive back to the
surface. What is the ultimate takeaway here?
We started by asking how a nation decides who
is honorable. The honor of the nation is a flexible,
high level award established in 1996 that recognizes
acts in good name, regardless of borders or even
citizenship. And I think the deepest takeaway
is that for Albania, honor is essentially a team
sport. It really is. It's not just the solitary
hero charging up the hill. No. It's the writer
at their desk. It's the diaspora star in Hollywood.
It's the diplomat building bridges. But most
importantly, and this is the part that really
sticks with me, it's the infrastructure. The
library and the gymnasium. By honoring the institution,
the state is admitting a fundamental truth. You
cannot have culture without the container. You
need the school to teach the history. You need
the library to hold the books. You need the municipality
to organize the relief effort. You need the team
to wear the jersey. It levels the playing field
between the individual creator and the communal
support system. It does. It forces you to look
at your own society differently. It really does.
I'm going to drive past my local high school
today and give it a little salute. I see you
building. You're doing the work. You should.
It deserves it. And that is exactly where we
want to leave you today. We want you to try that
thought experiment we started with. If you were
the president of your own country or even just
the mayor of your town and you had five Honor
of the Nation medals to give out, who gets them?
Do you just give it to the richest person in
town? Yeah. The most famous athlete? Or do you
have the vision to give it to the hospital that
anchored the community during a crisis or the
university that educated your kids? What does
it say about a nation's true priorities when
they value the institution just as highly as
the individual? It's a question worth pondering
as you look around your own community. It tells
you everything about what they want the future
to look like. Thanks for joining us on this deep
dive into the definition of honor and the decorata
and dairy I combat. It's been a pleasure unpacking
the source material with you. Always a pleasure
to be here. We'll catch you on the next one.
Keep exploring.