The first issue of the newspaper “Drita” (“The light”) (1901-1908), a bi-weekly political, social, cultural and literary newspaper, was published in Sofia, Bulgaria. It was published with the Istanbul alphabet. It continued until number 101. It was led by Shahin Kolonja. “Drita” newspaper was one of the most important organs of the Albanian press at the beginning of the 20th century. It came out with the political motto: “Protect the rights of the Albanian nation” and with this aim it gave impetus to the political-social thinking of the last phase of the National Renaissance for the awareness of Albanians to break away from the Ottoman yoke. The newspaper “Drita” fostered the idea of uniting Albanians regardless of religion, influenced the development of journalism and Albanian artistic literature; it turned into a diary and guide for the events in Albania and about Albania. (In the photo: Issue of the newspaper “Drita”, 1904.)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 533.
Photo: © https://www.syri-vision.tv/120-vjet-nga-botimi-i-gazetes-drita/
Graphic processing: AHCF
