Gjergj Fishta (; 23 October 187130 December 1940) was an Albanian

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ...

, poet, educator, politician,

rilindas The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where th ...

, translator and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential

Albanian writers Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture ** Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the countr ...

of the 20th century due to his epic masterpiece ''

Lahuta e Malcís ''The Highland Lute'' ( sq, Lahuta e Malcís, original and standard language of the time based on Gheg Albanian) is the Albanian national epic poem, completed and published by the Albanian friar and poet Gjergj Fishta in 1937. It consists of 30 so ...

'' and the editor of two of the most authoritative magazines after Albania's independence, ''Posta e Shypniës'' and ''

Hylli i Dritës ''Hylli i Dritës'' ( en, The Star of Light) is an Albanian periodical first published in 1913 by Gjergj Fishta, one of the most notable writers and poets of Albanian literature. It is regarded as one of the most important Albanian magazines of t ...

''. Notably being the chairman of the commission of the Congress of Manastir, which sanctioned the

Albanian alphabet The Albanian alphabet ( sq, alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters: ''Note:'' The vowels are shown in bold. The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë ...

, he was part of the Albanian delegation to the Versailles Conference, 1919. In 1921 he was a member and became the deputy chairman of the Albanian parliament, later on in the '20s and the '30s he was among the most influential cultural and literary figures in Albania. After the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

came to power, his literary oeuvre had been taken out of circulation and it stayed so until the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

Biography

Early life

Gjergj Fishta was born to a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

family in

Fishtë Fishtë is a settlement in the former Blinisht municipality, in Lezhë County, northwestern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Lezhë. It is an important agritourism area with a number of well establis ...

, of the

Zadrima Zadrima is an ethnographic region situated in north-western Albania between the cities of Shkodra and Lezha, located left of the Lower Drin which eventually drains into the Adriatic Sea from near Lezha. Geography The Zadrima Plain includes vi ...

region, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University ...

, to Ndoka and Prenda Kaçi. Baptised by the name Zef, the youngest of three brothers and one sister. The parish priest of Troshan, parish where Fishta was included, Marian Pizzochini of

Palmanova Palmanova ( fur, Palme) is a town and comune in northeast Italy. The town is an example of a star fort of the late Renaissance, built up by the Venetian Republic in 1593. The fortifications were included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site li ...

, asked his parents to make him a friar. At the expense of the parishioner, Zef went to the Franciscan school in Shkodra until 1880, when Troshan's College began its activity. He studied

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. ...

and Catholic

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...

(seminaries in

Kraljeva Sutjeska Kraljeva Sutjeska (sometimes Kraljevska Sutjeska, or just Sutjeska or Sutiska, historically Trstivnica, in local tradition ''Naše stolno misto'') is a village in the municipality of Kakanj, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The village has historical signi ...

, Franciscan monastery in Livno, Franciscan monastery in Kreševo), among

Bosnian Croats The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and ...

.Pater Gjergj Fishta (1871–1940)
/ref> In 1902, he became the head of the Franciscan college in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shko ...

. Fishta was under influence of Croatian

Franciscan friar , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

s as a student in monasteries in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

, when he wrote his main work ''

'', influenced by the

national epic A national epic is an epic poem or a literary work of epic scope which seeks or is believed to capture and express the essence or spirit of a particular nation—not necessarily a nation state, but at least an ethnic or linguistic group with a ...

s of the Croatian and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also * * * Old Serbian (disambiguation ...

literature according to Robert Elsie. Dedicated to the commander

Ali Pasha of Gusinje Ali Pasha Shabanagaj (Serbian: Али-паша Шабанагић, Ali-paša Šabanagić; 1828 – 5 March 1888), was an Albanian Muslim military commander and one of the leaders of the League of Prizren. He governed, as an Ottoman ''kaymaka ...

the work was an epic poem that consisted of 30 cantos focusing on the events of the

League of Prizren The League of Prizren ( sq, Besëlidhja e Prizrenit), officially the League for the Defense of the Rights of the Albanian Nation ( sq, Lidhja për mbrojtjen e të drejtave te kombit Shqiptar), was an Albanian political organization which was offi ...

, which had become a symbol of the

Albanian national awakening The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the ...

. He interpreted Albania in the conference of Paris on 1919. From the beginning of April 1919 to 1920, he served as Secretary of the Albanian delegation to the Paris Peace Conference. At the end of 1920, he was elected to parliament by Shkodër, and in 1921 he became the Vice President of the

Albanian parliament The Parliament of Albania ( sq, Kuvendi i Shqipërisë) or Kuvendi is the unicameral representative body of the citizens of the Republic of Albania; it is Albania's legislature. The Parliament is composed of no less than 140 members elected to ...

. In 1924, Fishta supported

Fan Noli Theofan Stilian Noli, known as Fan Noli (6 January 1882 – 13 March 1965), was an Albanian writer, scholar, diplomat, politician, historian, orator, Archbishop, Metropolitan and founder of the Albanian Orthodox Church and the Albanian Orthodox ...

in his attempt to found a democratic system in Albania. After the establishment of the Zogu regime, Fishta left willingly to go into exile in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in 1925/26, before he resumed his position as teacher and writer in Shkodër, where he died in 1940.

Literary works

Alcuni disegni architettonici di Gjergj Fishta

In 1899, Fishta, along with

Preng Doçi Preng Doçi (1846–1917), it, Primus Docci, was and Albanian political and religious figure and poet. He was a main contributor in the Albanian ''Bashkimi'' Alphabet. Life Preng Doçi was born in Paraspor neighborhood of Bulgër, a village ne ...

and

Ndre Mjeda Ndre Mjeda (20 November 18661 August 1937) was an Albanian philologist, poet, priest, rilindas, translator and writer of the Albanian Renaissance. He was a member of the Mjeda family. He was influenced by the Jesuit writer Anton Xanoni an ...

founded the ''Shoqnia e bashkimit të gjuhës shqipe'' ( Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language) literary society, usually known as the ''Shoqnia Bashkimi'' (The Union Society), or simply ''Bashkimi'' (The Union) of Shkodra for publishing Albanian language books. In the late Ottoman period Fishta's publications included folk songs and a number of poems, which like other Albanian publications of the time often had to be published abroad and smuggled into the empire to avoid censorship. In 1907, Fishta wrote the satirical work ''The Wasps of Parnasus'' that critiqued Albanians of the time that placed individual interests over national ones and the intelligentsia who did not devote themselves to studying the Albanian language and showed disdain toward it. As a representative of the Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language, Fishta participated and was elected for president of the committee in the

Congress of Monastir The Congress of Manastir ( sq, Kongresi i Manastirit) was an academic conference held in the city of Manastir (now Bitola) from November 14 to 22, 1908, with the goal of standardizing the Albanian alphabet. November 22 is now a commemorative da ...

(today

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

, then

) held in 1908. Participants of the congress accepted Fishta's proposal for the Latin ''Bashkimi'' alphabet, and many of its elements were merged into the ''Istanbul'' alphabet resulting in the standard

. In 1916, he was core founder of the

Albanian Literary Commission The Albanian Literary Commission ( sq, Komisija Letrare Shqipe), also known as the Literary Commission of Shkodër, was a scholarly committee established in Shkodër, north Albania in 1916. It gathered major personalities of Albanian literature and ...

, where he unsuccessfully tried to place Shkodra subdialect as standard literary Albanian. Through both his work as a teacher as well as through his literary works, Fishta had a great influence on the development of the

written Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically inscribed, mechanically transferred, or digitally represented symbols. Writing systems do not themselves constitute h ...

form of his native

Gheg Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds ...

Albanian. Fishta worked also as a translator (of

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

, Manzoni,

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

, et al.).

Critic

Robert Elsie Robert Elsie (June 29, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was a Canadian-born German scholar who specialized in Albanian literature and folklore. Elsie was a writer, translator, interpreter, and specialist in Albanian studies, being the author of numerou ...

hypothesized that in ''Lahuta e Malcís'', Fishta substituted the struggle against the

Ottomans The Ottoman Turks ( tr, Osmanlı Türkleri), were the Turkic founding and sociopolitically the most dominant ethnic group of the Ottoman Empire ( 1299/1302–1922). Reliable information about the early history of Ottoman Turks remains scarce, ...

with a struggle against the

Slavs Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

, after the recent

massacres A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

and expulsions of Albanians by their Slavic neighbours. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the authorities in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

and Albanian historiography controlled by communist regime in Tirana (influenced by

Yugoslav communists Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to: * Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name: ** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...

) proscribed Fishta's works as anti-Slavic propaganda. According to

Arshi Pipa Arshi Pipa (28 July 1920 – 20 July 1997) was an Albanian-American philosopher, writer, poet and literary critic. Biography Arshi Pipa was born on 28 July 1920 in Shkodër and attended school there until 1938. Pipa received a BA equivale ...

, Fishta's satirical works are modulated after the Bejte tradition of

, which he elevated to a literary level.

Legacy

Awards in his lifetime

In the last years of the Ottoman rule over Albania, proposed by the

wali A wali (''wali'' ar, وَلِيّ, '; plural , '), the Arabic word which has been variously translated "master", "authority", "custodian", "protector", is most commonly used by Muslims to indicate an Islamic saint, otherwise referred to by the ...

of Shkodër Hasan Riza Pasha he was awarded with the Maarif Order of 2nd class (tr. ''Maarif Nişanı'', Order of Education) for his contribution in the local education. He was awarded with the Order of Franz Joseph from Austro-Hungarian Empire authorities, later on in 1925 with the Medaglia di Benemerenza by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

. On 1931 by the Order of the Phoenix by

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

, and after the

Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...

he was part of the

Royal Academy of Italy The Royal Academy of Italy ( it, Reale Accademia d'Italia, italic=no) was a short-lived Italian academy of the Fascist period. It was created on 7 January 1926 by royal decree,See reference . but was not inaugurated until 28 October 1929. It was e ...

Historical

Soviet historiography Soviet historiography is the methodology of history studies by historians in the Soviet Union (USSR). In the USSR, the study of history was marked by restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). Soviet historiography i ...

he was referred to as "former agent of Austro-Hungarian

imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic powe ...

" who took position against

Slavic people Slavs are the largest European ethnolinguistic group. They speak the various Slavic languages, belonging to the larger Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout northern Eurasia, main ...

and Pan-Slavism because they opposed "rapacious plans of Austro-Hungarian imperialism in Albania" and had a role in Catholic Clergy's preparation "for Italian aggression against Albania".

Bibliography

* ''

'', epic poem, (Zara, 1902) * ''Anzat e Parnasit'', satire, (Sarajevo, 1907) * ''Pika voese'' republished afterwards and retitled ''Vallja e Parrizit'', (Zara, 1909) * ''Shqiptari i qytetnuem'', melodrama, (1911) * ''Vëllaznia apo Shën Françesku i Assisi-t'', (1912) * '' Juda Makabe'', tragedy, (1914) * ''Gomari i Babatasit'', (Shkodër, 1923) * ''Mrizi i Zanave'', (Shkodër, 1924) * ''Lahuta e Malcís'' (2d. ed.), Gesamtdruck, (Shkodër 1937). In English ''The Highland Lute'', trans. by Robert Elsie and Janice Mathie-Heck. I. B. Tauris (2006)

Sources

Maximilian Lambertz Maximilian Lambertz (27 July 1882 in Vienna – 26 August 1963 in Markkleeberg near Leipzig) was an Austrian linguist, folklorist, and a major personality of Albanology. Biography In the years 1900 to 1905, he studied comparative linguistics and ...

: Gjergj Fishta und das albanische Heldenepos "Lahuta e Malsisë" – Laute des Hochlandes. Eine Einführung in die albanische Sagenwelt. Leipzig 1949.

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * *

External links

Biography of Gjergj Fishta
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fishta, Gjergj 1871 births 1940 deaths People from Lezhë County Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Albanian-language poets Albanian-language writers 20th-century Albanian poets 20th-century Albanian writers Albanian translators Italian–Albanian translators Albanian schoolteachers Albanian Catholic poets 19th-century Albanian poets 19th-century Albanian politicians 20th-century Albanian politicians Albanian Franciscans French–Albanian translators Knights of the Order of Franz Joseph Recipients of the Order of the Phoenix (Greece) People from Scutari vilayet