Kristo Sulidhi, full name Kristo Panajot Sulidhi, also known as Kristo Shuli, (1858-1938), was an Albanian photographer and writer of the 19th and early 20th century. He was born in the village of Marjan of the region of Opar (and now part of the

Maliq Maliq ( sq-definite, Maliqi), formerly known as Malik ( sq-definite, Maliki), is a town and a municipality in Korçë County of eastern Albania. It is the smaller of two cities in the district, the other being Korçë, southeast of Maliq. The cu ...

municipality in

Korçë County Korçë County (), officially the County of Korçë (), is a Counties of Albania, county in the Southern Albania, Southern Region of the Republic of Albania. It is the largest by area and the List of counties of Albania by population, fifth most p ...

, southeastern

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 ...

). He emigrated to

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

where he wrote in

Anastas Kullurioti Anastas Kullurioti or Anastasios Koulouriotis (; 1822–1887) was an Arvanites, Arvanite Albanians, Albanian writer and nationalist figure in Greece. Biography Born in Salamis Island, Salamis, Ottoman Greece of Arvanites, Arvanite descent, he spen ...

's weekly ''

The Voice of Albania ''The Voice of Albania'' is an Albanian television reality singing competition created by John de Mol Jr. and is part of ''The Voice'' franchise. It began airing on Top Channel on October 21, 2011. Top Channel ended the show, because they be ...

'', (). One of his most important poems was a ballad of 150 verses entitled ''The Albanians who fight in Gucia''. He returned to Albania and worked in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

as a photographer. One of his most important photos is the one that documented the first Albanian school, opened in 1887 (the picture dates 1899). Shuli was a Protestant and close friend with

Gjerasim Qiriazi Gjerasim Qiriazi (in English Gerasim Kyrias) (18 October 1858 – 2 January 1894) was an Albanian Protestant preacher, Bible translator and distributor, educator, and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. In the early 1890s he founded t ...

, founder of the Protestant Church of Albania. For this reason he was excommunicated by the Orthodox church to whom he belonged before converting to Protestantism. When his 20-year-old son died, Kristo was left with the choice of either renouncing the Protestant faith, or bury his son outside of the Christian Orthodox cemetery of the city. He did not give up his faith and, crying, buried his son in the garden of his own house. Shuli is also known for having been the photographer of many people involved with the

Rilindja The Albanian National Awakening ( 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 Albanian ...

movement, such as known freedom fighters Shahin Matraku and Kajo Babjeni, thereby becoming one of the propagandists of the movement itself. In 1892 Shuli went to Shkodër to meet with

Kel Marubi Kel Kodheli (better known as Kel Marubi) (1870 – 13 March 1940) was an Albanian photographer. He was the father of Geg Marubi. Life Kel Kodheli began his study of photography at the age of 15. During the 1920s, he studied in Lyon at the fir ...

and

Kolë Idromeno Nikoll Idromeno (; 15 August 186012 December 1939), better known as Kolë Idromeno, was an Albanian painter, sculptor, architect, photographer, cinematographer, composer and engineer during the Albanian Renaissance in the nineteenth century. He ...

with whom he shared his experience. Shuli was the brother-in-law of well-known Albanian photographer

Kristaq Sotiri Kristaq is an Albanian masculine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from ...

, who was Shuli's alumnus. Shuli was decorated post-mortem from the Albanian government for his patriotic activities.

Gallery

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shuli, Kristo Albanian photographers 19th-century Albanian poets 20th-century Albanian poets Albanian journalists 1858 births 1938 deaths People from Maliq Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Emigrants from the Ottoman Empire to Greece Writers from the Ottoman Empire Albanian people from the Ottoman Empire