Miralay Hamdi Bey,[1]Hamdi Baba, also known as "Kambur (humpback) Hamdi" (1861–1927) andHamdi Bey was anOttoman officer and politician of ethnicAlbanian origin. Hamdi Bey was a colonel of theOttoman army and later a deputy of theOttoman parliament.
Hamdi Bey was born to Haji Mahmud Efendi in 1861 inMargariti,[2] modern northwesternGreece (Chameria). After studying at the localmadrasah he joined the ranks of the Ottoman military forces. In theGreco-Turkish War of 1897 he commanded troops in thePreveza area, for which he becameKaymakam (Lieutenant Colonel) of theOttoman Army. In 1903 he rose to the rank ofMiralay (Colonel), as the commander of the gendarmerie of thevilayet of Scutari, while later he commanded the gendarmerie regiment ofTrabzon.[2]
April 26, 1909, he was elected deputy of thesanjak of Preveza.[2] As a deputy along with nine other notable Albanian deputies of theOttoman parliament he supported the use of the Latin script in the standardization of theAlbanian alphabet.[3]
He became the honorary president of M.M. (Mim-Mim) Group July 21, 1921, during theTurkish War of Independence. He was interned for allegedly taking part in theIzmir Conspiracy againstMustafa Kemal, but was released August 26, 1926, because no evidence connecting him to the incident was found.[2]