Albanology, also known as Albanian studies, is an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities that addresses the

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

costume Costume is the distinctive style of dress and/or makeup of an individual or group that reflects class, gender, occupation, ethnicity, nationality, activity or epoch—in short, culture. The term also was traditionally used to describe typica ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

. Within the studies the scientific methods of literature, linguistics, archeology, history and culture are used. However the

Albanian language Albanian (Endonym and exonym, endonym: , , or ) is an Indo-European languages, Indo-European language and the only surviving representative of the Albanoid, Albanoid branch, which belongs to the Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan group. It ...

is the main point of research of the studies.

Studies

Johann Erich Thunmann Johann Erich Thunmann or Johannes or Hans (23 August 1746 — 17 December 1778) was a linguist, historian and theologian born in Thoresund (Södermanland) in Sweden. He studied at Strängnäs and Uppsala then left Sweden to study at Greifswald. T ...

in the 18th century was probably the first Albanologist. He supported the theory of the autochthony of the

and also presented the Illyrian origin theory. Later on

Gustav Meyer Gustav Meyer (25 November 1850 – 28 August 1900) was a German linguist and Indo-European scholar, considered to be one of the most important Albanologists of his time, most importantly by proving that the Albanian language belongs to the Indo-E ...

proved that the Albanian language was part of the

Indo-European family The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

. In the 20th century such studies were deepened by

Norbert Jokl Norbert Jokl (February 25, 1877 – probably May 1942) was an Austrian Albanologist of Jewish descent who has been called the father of Albanology. Early life Jokl was born in Bzenec (then Bisenz), Southern Moravia (now the Czech Republic) ...

, Milan Šufflay, and

Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás Baron Franz Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás (also Baron Nopcsa von Felső-Szilvás, Baron Nopcsa, Ferenc Nopcsa, báró felsőszilvási Nopcsa Ferenc, Baron Franz Nopcsa, and Franz Baron Nopcsa; May 3, 1877 – April 25, 1933) was a Hungarian Aristoc ...

, as well as Karl Reinhold, and Eqrem Çabej. The studies of Albanology were more institutionally supported in Albania starting in 1940 with the opening of the Royal Institute of the Albanian Studies, which had preceded the

Academy of Sciences of Albania The Academy of Sciences of Albania (), founded in 1972, is the most important scientific institution in Albania. In the 1980s, several research institutes began at the University of Tirana were transferred to the Academy's jurisdiction. The ins ...

, opened in 1972. Meanwhile, during the 1960s, the Albanology Institute of Pristina was also reconstructed in

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

, then part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

. The institute emerged from its core founded in 1953.

Notable Albanologists

Albanian-born

* Demetrio Franco (1443–1525) * Ndoc Nikaj (1864–1951) *

Gjergj Pekmezi Gjergj Pekmezi (23 April 1872 – 24 February 1938) was an Albanian linguist, philosopher, folklorist and diplomat. In 1916, he became a member of the Literary Commission of Shkodër, which established the first standard form of the Albanian langu ...

(1872–1938) *

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

(1882–1965) * Costa Chekrezi (1892–1959) * Tahir Dizdari (1900–1972) * Tajar Zavalani (1903–1966) * Stavro Skëndi (1905–1989) * Eqrem Çabej (1908–1980) * Namik Resuli (1908–1985) *

Selman Riza Selman Riza (1909–1988) was an Albanian linguist and Albanologist. Riza was one of the founding members of the Albanological Institute of Pristina in 1953. Early life Selman Riza was born in Yakova (now Gjakova), Ottoman Empire on 21 Decem ...

(1909–1988) * Aleks Buda (1910–1993) * Petro Janura (1911–1983) * Mahir Domi (1915–2000) * Dhimitër Shuteriqi (1915–2003) *

Idriz Ajeti Idriz Ajeti (26 June 1917 – 13 February 2019) was an Albanology, Albanologist from Kosovo and one of the main researchers and authorities on the Albanian language studies of post World War II. He was involved for a long period in the academic l ...

(1917–2019) * Shaban Demiraj (1920–2014) * Mark Krasniqi (1920–2015) * Androkli Kostallari (1922–1992) * Mehdi Bardhi (1927–1994) * Jashar Rexhepagiq (1929–2010) * Petro Zheji (1929–2015) * Besim Bokshi (1930–2014) * Skënder Rizaj (1930–2021) *

Fehmi Agani Fehmi Agani (23 January 1932 – 6 May 1999) was a sociologist and politician in Kosovo who was considered to be the leading thinker and political strategist of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in the 1990s. He represented the LDK in internat ...

(1932–1999) *

Muzafer Korkuti Muzafer Korkuti (born 1936) is an Albanian archaeologist and prehistorian. He is considered an expert on the prehistoric period of Albania. Korkuti was the director of the Institute of Archeology at the Centre for Albanological Studies in Tirana ...

(*1936) * Rexhep Qosja (*1936) * Jorgo Bulo (1939–2015) * Anton Berisha (*1946) * Aurel Plasari (*1956) Baron Franz Nopcsa in Albanian uniform

Foreign-born

* Marcin Bielski (1495–1575) *

(1746–1778) *

François Pouqueville François Charles Hugues Laurent Pouqueville (; 4 November 1770 – 20 December 1838) was a French diplomat, writer, explorer, physician and historian, and member of the Institut de France. He traveled extensively throughout Ottoman-occupied G ...

(1770–1838) *

William Martin Leake William Martin Leake FRS (14 January 17776 January 1860) was an English soldier, spy, topographer, diplomat, antiquarian, writer, and Fellow of the Royal Society. He served in the British Army, spending much of his career in the Mediterrane ...

(1777–1860) *

Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer Jakob Philipp Fallmerayer (10 December 1790 – 26 April 1861) was a Germans, German county of Tyrol, Tyrolean traveller, journalist, politician and historian, best known for his controversial Discontinuity (Postmodernism), discontinuity the ...

(1790–1861) * Joseph von Xylander (1794-1854) * Johann Georg von Hahn (1811–1869) * Karl Reinhold (1834–1880) * Vikentij Makušev (1837–1883) * Jan Urban Jarník (1848–1923) *

(1850–1900) * Lajos Thallóczy (1857–1916) * Alexandru Philippide (1859–1933) * Theodor Anton Ippen (1861–1935) * Carl Patsch (1865–1945) * Antonio Baldacci (1867–1950) * Holger Pedersen (1867–1953) *

Nicolae Iorga Nicolae Iorga (17 January 1871 – 27 November 1940) was a historian, politician, literary critic, memoirist, Albanologist, poet and playwright. Co-founder (in 1910) of the Democratic Nationalist Party (PND), he served as a member of Parliament ...

(1871–1940) * Mario Roques (1875–1961) *

(1877–1942) *

(1877–1933) * Milan Šufflay (1879–1931) * Maximilian Lambertz (1882–1963) * Marco La Piana (1883–1958) * Margaret Hasluck (1885–1948) * Jacques Bourcart (1891–1965) * Giuseppe Valentini (1900–1979) * Georg Stadtmüller (1909–1985) *

Agniya Desnitskaya Agniya Vasilyevna Desnitskaya (Russian: А́гния Васи́льевна Десни́цкая) (23 August 1912 — 18 April 1992) was a Soviet and Russian linguist, a specialist in Indo-European languages, esp. Germanic languages and the Alban ...

(1912–1992) * Wacław Cimochowski (1912–1982) * Vangelis Liapis (1914–2008) * Eric P. Hamp (1920–2019) * Aleksandar Stipčević (1930–2015) * Wilfried Fiedler (1933–2019) * Peter Schubert (1938–2003) * Peter Bartl (1938–2022) * Robert Elsie (1950–2017) *

Vladimir Orel Vladimir Emmanuilovich Oryol (; 9 February 1952 – 5 August 2007) was a Russian linguistics, linguist, professor, and etymology, etymologist. Biography At the Moscow State University he studied theoretical linguistics (1971) and structural li ...

(1952–2007) * James Pettifer (*1949) * Pasquale Scutari (*1952) * Francesco Altimari (*1955) * Noel Malcolm (*1956) * Matteo Mandalà (*1958) * Marko Snoj (*1959) * Joachim Matzinger (*1968) * Armin Hetzer (*1941) * Oliver Schmitt (*1973)

References

External links