 He was related both to Ismail Qemali and also to his main political opponent Esad Pasha, who were both his uncles from his father's and mother's side respectively.He was educated at the Theresianum in Vienna, 1899–1903, and studied law and religion in Istanbul, 1904.After working for the Ottoman Foreign Ministry for a time, including a three-month tour of duty at the Ottoman embassy in St. Petersburg in 1907 , and years of travel in Europe, Albania and the Orient, he joined his uncle Ismail Qemali in the movement for Albanian independence.