Mihael Summa

Mihael Summa or Mikel Suma (March 12, 1695 – November 20, 1777) was the Albanian Catholic Archbishop of Skopje from 1728 to 1743,

Life and career Suma was born in Balba, Albania, in the Diocese of Sapë to a noble Catholic family. On the same day he was baptized as "Zupin" by Don Nikola Kabashi. Suma was described as kind and diligent. Don Tibeo Paccalorzi, the principal of the Fermo College in Rome, wrote on April 15, 1711, that "Mihael Summa is a person of which much is expected." When Suma returned home from his studies, he was ordained a priest on 28 October 1718, In 1737, Suma led the Albanian highlanders in an anti-Ottoman revolt, but after the Austrian forces retreat through Novi Pazar, the Albanians were left to resist for three years.

During the spread of the plague in the region, it is believed that Suma stayed in Belgrade, but letters to Rome written on 6 April and 6 June 1739 show that he traveled to the Pešter region in the Novi Pazar. In his letters he describing how his countrymen in Pešter and Novi Pazar were subjected to Austrian rule. Suma was fluent in Albanian, Croatian and Turkish resulting in him being appreciated by the local Turks and Orthodox believers in Skopje (Shkup). After the Turks seized Belgrade, Suma fled to Osijek, where he had the status of an Imperial senior citizen, with 1800 forints a year as pension. He lived with his son, sat on the city council and became a merchant.

Before 23 September 1743, Suma resigned as Archbishop, becoming Archbishop Emeritus. Suma had been a priest for 59 years and a bishop for 48.