Skënder Anamali (5 May 1921 – 21 April 1996) was an Albanian archaeologist and historian. He was one of the founders of Albanian archaeology. He made significant contributions to the field of Illyrian studies.

Biography

Skënder Anamali was born and raised in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

. After completing high school in his hometown, Anamali continued his studies at the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy at the

University of Padua The University of Padua (, UNIPD) is an Italian public research university in Padua, Italy. It was founded in 1222 by a group of students and teachers from the University of Bologna, who previously settled in Vicenza; thus, it is the second-oldest ...

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 ...

, gaining knowledge in the field of antiquity. On returning to

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 ...

after his studies, he began a career as an archaeologist at the Institute of Sciences in Tirana. Together with his colleague Hasan Ceka, he opened the first Archaeological museum in Tirana in 1948. Anamali became known for his excavations in the city of

Amantia Amantia (; ) was an ancient city and the main settlement of the Amantes, traditionally located in southern Illyria in classical antiquity. In Hellenistic times the city was either part of Illyrian kingdom, Illyria or Epirus (ancient state), E ...

, Apollonia,

Epidamnos Epidamnos ''(Ancient Greek: Επίδαμνος, Albanian: Epidamn)'', later known as Dyrrachium ''(Latin: Dyrrhachium, Greek: Δυρράχιον, Albanian: Dyrrah)'', was a prominent city on the Adriatic coast, located in modern-day Durrës, Alb ...

(

Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Albania, Republic of Albania and county seat, seat of Durrës County and Durrës Municipality. It is one of Albania's oldest ...

), and many other places. He focused on studying the culture of late antiquity and early medieval times in the Albanian territory. The results of these investigations appeared in over 70 articles and scientific studies, making Anamali a significant contributor to the field of archaeology and ancient history of

Illyrians The Illyrians (, ; ) were a group of Indo-European languages, Indo-European-speaking people who inhabited the western Balkan Peninsula in ancient times. They constituted one of the three main Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan populations, alon ...

. He was an author of the monograph on the Illyrian city of

and a co-author of important works such as ''Illyrians and Illyria among ancient authors'' (1965) and ''The History of Albania,'' vol. I (1959).'' Anamali contributed to the expansion of archaeological research to Mat and Stelush, to

Lin, Korçë Lin ( sq-definite, Lini, ) is a village in the former Udënisht, Udënisht Municipality in Korçë County, Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Pogradec. Geography Lin is situated on a Albanian Ohrid La ...

and even to

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 ...

, but first of all to Koman, where for the first time the existence of a cultural layer of the bridge from the Illyrians to the Arbers, a layer that also proved their typological continuity. Today the Koman culture has become a reference point not only to date archaeological discoveries, but also to make comparisons of layers, cultures and civilizations, autochthonous and allochthonous. During the archaeological expedition of 1960s and 1970s, in Kosovo, together with Muhamet Pirraku, he explored the ruins of the castles of Verboc and Kosmaç in

Drenica Drenica (, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klina, Zubin Potok, Mitr ...

region. Anamali was active in international cooperaration, being a member of the International Association for Greek and Latin Epigraphy based in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He helped establish several archaeological museums. Anamali died on 21 April 1996 in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Publications

* ''Illyrians and Illyria among ancient authors (Ilirët dhe Iliria tek autorët antikë),'' coauthor, 1965 * ''The History of Albania vol. I (Historia e Shqipërisë) coathor,'' 1959 * ''Mosaiques de l'Albanie, (with Stilian Adhami) 1974'' * ''Archaeology and Agriculture (Arkeologjia dhe bujqësia)'' author, 1980 * ''Corpus des inscriptions latines d'Albanie,'' 2009 * ''Historia e popullit shqiptar,'' 2002, 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anamali, Skender 1921 births 1996 deaths Albanian archaeologists University of Padua alumni People from Shkodër

Biography

Publications

See also

References