Sheper (definite form: ''Sheperi'') is a community in the

Gjirokastër County Gjirokastër County () is one of the 12 counties of Albania. The total population in 2023 was 60,013, in an area of 2884 km2. Its capital is the city Gjirokastër. Administrative divisions Until 2000, Gjirokastër County was subdivided into thre ...

, southern

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 ...

. Sheperi is the largest village of the former

Zagori Zagori (; ), is a region, a municipality, and a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the Pindus mountains in Epirus, in northwestern Greece. The seat of the municipality is the village Asprangeloi. It has an area of some and contains 46 v ...

municipality. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality

Libohovë Libohovë ( sq-definite, Libohova) is a town and a municipality in southern Albania. It is overlooked by Libohovë Castle and has a main street with views across the Drino valley. Libohovë is at the foot of the Mount Bureto, Bureto Mountain. The r ...

. It is mountain village located 30 km from the city of Gjirokastër, about 900 meters

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

. Due to heavy migration, its current population is about 100 inhabitants. Sheper is inhabited by an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Albanian population.Kallivretakis, Leonidas (1995).
Η ελληνική κοινότητα της Αλβανίας υπό το πρίσμα της ιστορικής γεωγραφίας και δημογραφίας [The Greek Community of Albania in terms of historical geography and demography
" In Nikolakopoulos, Ilias, Kouloubis Theodoros A. & Thanos M. Veremis (eds). ''Ο Ελληνισμός της Αλβανίας [The Greeks of Albania]''. University of Athens. p. 34. "Στα πλαίσια της επιτόπιας έρευνας που πραγματοποιήσαμε στην Αλβανία (Νοέμβριος-Δεκέμβριος 1992), μελετήσαμε το ζήτημα των εθνοπολιτισμικών ομάδων, όπως αυτές συνειδητοποιούνται σήμερα επί τόπου. s part of the fieldwork we held in Albania (November–December 1992), we studied the issue of ethnocultural groups, as they are realized today on the spot.; p. 51. "ΑΧ Αλβανοί Ορθόδοξοι Χριστιανοί, "; p.56 "SHEPERI ΣΕΠΕΡΗ. 253 ΑΧ".

Demographics

Sheper is inhabited by an Orthodox Albanian population and some Aromanian families. The Aromanian presence in Sheper dates to the 20th century when during the communist era in Albania they settled in the area. p. 133. R. Rrămăn (Aromunen mit der Eigenbezeichnung Rrămăn = Farscheroten, Arvanitovlachen)"; p. 146. "Sheper... einige familie R; zu kommunischtischer Zeit angesiedelte aromunische Bevölkerungsgruppen aus südostalbanischen Gebirgen und aus Greichenland."

Notable people

Andon Zako Çajupi Andon Zako Çajupi (27 March 186611 July 1930) was an Albanian lawyer, playwright, poet and rilindas. Biography He was born in the village of Sheper, Upper Zagoria, Albania, then Ottoman Empire, on 27 March 1866. Çajupi's father, Harito Z ...

, (27 March 1866 – 11 July 1930) was an

Albanian 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 country ...

lawyer, playwright, poet and

rilindas 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 ...

. * Mihal Kasso, (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Μιχαήλ Κάσσος) was a

politician, member and chairman of the

Albanian Parliament 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 ...

, as well as representative of the Greek community in Albania. * Aristidh Ruci, (11 March 1875 – 11 April 1950) was one of the signatories of

Albanian Declaration of Independence The Albanian Declaration of Independence (Albanian language, Albanian: ''Deklarata e Pavarësisë'') was the declaration of independence of Albania from the Ottoman Empire. Independent Albania was proclaimed in Vlorë on 28 November 1912. Six da ...

in 1912. He campaigned for the spread of education in Southern Albania and was a founder of the nationalist Labëria club. * Ilia Dilo Sheperi * Pano Xhamballo *

Kiço Ngjela Kiço Ngjela (25 December 1917 – 16 June 2002) was an Albanian politician of the Albanian Party of Labour (PPSh). Ngjela was born in Sheper (Zagori, Albania, Zagori region) of the Gjirokastër District in Albania. In 1945 he became a member of ...

, politician of the

Communist Albania The People's Socialist Republic of Albania, () was the Marxist-Leninist state that existed in Albania from 10 January 1946 to the 29 April 1991. Originally founded as the People's Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1976, it was governed by the Pa ...

* Jorgo Bulo, (27 April 1939 – 26 November 2015) was an

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 ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

, and

literary critic A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...

. Since 2003 up to his death (2015) he was a member of the Albanian Academy of Arts and Sciences. * Anastas Ngjela, (3 March 1934 – 24 July 1999) was an Albanian pilot of First Class and the Colonel of Military Air Forces, of Albania Republic. He was involved in the 1957 United States Air Force incursion into Albanian airspace.

References

Populated places in Libohovë Villages in Gjirokastër County {{Gjirokastër-geo-stub