Despot Ivan Komnenos

Ivan Asen Shishman Komnenos, a Bulgarian aristocrat of the Shishman dynasty, was born in the thirteenth century and was a brother of Tsar Ivan Alexander. He belonged to the Shishman dynasty and also had connections to the Asen, Laskaris, Synadenos and Komnenos dynasties.

After his sister Elena's marriage to Stefan Dušan in 1332, Ivan Asen established himself as governor of the Kutmichevitsa region in southern Albania. He received the title of "despot" from Stefan Dušan in 1346 and ruled the despotate until his death in 1363.

During Ivan Asen's rule, the Kutmichevitsa region prospered and became the centre of the despotate. He governed with the assistance of Venice, where he traded in sugar and spices. In 1353 he and his family received citizenship of the Venetian Republic.

Ivan Asen assisted his brother Simeon Siniša in his struggle against Tsar Stefan Uroš V, but after this attempt failed in 1356, he lost Berat. He received support from Venice in his conflict with Nikephoros II Orsini over Epirus and Thessaly.

It is thought that Ivan Asen Shishman Komnenos died in 1363 during a plague epidemic in Avlona and Durrës.

From his first marriage, Ivan Asen had two children: Alexander Komnenos, ruler of Valona, and Xenia Ivanina Komnene, married to the ruler of Zeta, Balša II Balšić. His second marriage was to Anna Palaiologina, widow of John II Orsini, who died around 1355.