Aleksandër Xhuvani (14 March 1880 – 22 November 1961) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

and educator. Xhuvani spent much of his career working for the improvement of Albanian schools; he also advocated the standardization of 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 ...

in the years following Albania's independence. Among his writings are grammars in Albanian, as well as a

dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...

of the language. Xhuvani also served as a politician, sitting in both the Constituent Assembly of the Albanian Kingdom and as a member of the

Assembly of the Republic of Albania The Parliament of Albania () 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 a four-year term on the b ...

. In the latter he served as vice-president of the Presidium towards the end of his life. Elbasan's Aleksandër Xhuvani University is named after him.

Life

Aleksandër Xhuvani was born on March 14, 1880, in

Elbasan Elbasan ( , ; sq-definite, Elbasani, ) is the fourth most populous city of Albania and seat of Elbasan County and Elbasan Municipality. It lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and the Myzeqe Plain in centr ...

, then

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. He completed elementary school in his hometown at ''"Normalja e Elbasanit"'', while the high school in

Tsotyli Tsotyli (, also Τσοτίλι - ''Tsotili'') is a village and former municipality currently part of the Voio municipality. Prior to 2011 local government reforms, it was the seat of the municipality of Tsotyli. The municipal unit has an area of 3 ...

, then part of the

Manastir Vilayet The Vilayet of Manastir () was a first-level administrative division (vilayet) of the Ottoman Empire, created in 1874, dissolved in 1877 and re-established in 1879. The vilayet was occupied during the First Balkan War in 1912 and divided between t ...

. In 1902 he began his studies at the Faculty of Philology at the

University of Athens The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA; , ''Ethnikó kai Kapodistriakó Panepistímio Athinón''), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens (UoA), is a public university in Athens, Greece, with various campuses alo ...

and graduated in 1906. In August of the same year he was invited by

Luigj Gurakuqi Luigj Gurakuqi (19 February 1879 – 2 March 1925), also called Louis Gurakuchi, was an Albanians, Albanian writer and politician. He was an important figure of the Albanian National Awakening and was honored with the People's Hero of Albania ...

to teach in Albanian at the

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name *Arbëres ...

College of

San Demetrio Corone San Demetrio Corone ( Arbëreshë: ''Shën Mitri'') is a town and municipality in the Calabria region of Italy, at an altitude of 521 meters and with 3,387 inhabitants. The town is among the most important cultural centers of the Albanian communi ...

in the

province of Cosenza The province of Cosenza () is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''), listed at list of ''comuni'' of the province of Cosenza. The province of Cosenza contains ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

References

Shqiperia.com
1880 births 1961 deaths People from Elbasan People from Manastir vilayet Eastern Orthodox Christians from Albania Members of the Parliament of Albania 20th-century Albanian educators Albanian philologists Albanian lexicographers National and Kapodistrian University of Athens alumni Albanian expatriates in Egypt Albanian educational theorists Xhuvani family 20th-century philologists 20th-century lexicographers {{Albania-bio-stub