On April 23, 1872 , Gjergj Pekmezi, linguist, was born in Tushemisht, Pogradec. He attended primary school in his hometown; continued his education in Manastir and Belgrade. In 1894–1898 he studied and graduated at the University of Vienna in philosophy and linguistics (Slavic studies). Commissioned by the Austrian Academy of Sciences, he was sent several times to Albania to collect dialectal materials. He defended his doctorate with a thesis on the basic distinguishing features between the Gheg dialect and the Tosk dialect. On his initiative, in 1903, the chair of the Albanian language was opened at the Oriental Institute of Vienna. He also served a time as consul of Albania in Austria (1920–1924, 1926–1928). For ten years (1928–1938) he taught the Albanian language at the University of Vienna and collected documents on the history of Albania. As a co-author, he published “Bibliografi shqiptare” (“Albanian bibliography”) (1909) and in 1913-1914 he published several teaching and reading books for the Albanian language in collaboration with Maksimilian Lamberci. In 1924 he published Thimi Mitko’s “Bleta shqiptare” (“Albanian bee”) transcribed in today’s alphabet. His main work is “Albanesische Grammatik”, 1908 (“Albanian Grammar”), one of the most complete grammars of the Albanian language, with a high theoretical level, both descriptive and historical. Gjergj Pekmezi left a monograph in manuscript (kept in the archive of the Institute of Linguistics and Literature, ASA) entitled “Tiparet dalluese më karakteristike të dialekteve kryesore të shqipes, gegërishtes dhe toskërishtes” (“The most distinctive characteristics of the main Albanian dialects, Gheg and Tosk”). A summary of its content was given by Mahir Domi in “Dialektologjia shqiptare” (“Albanian Dialectology”) VI (1990). (In the photo: Gjergj Pekmezi)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 1976-1977.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gjergj_Pekmezi
Graphic processing: AHCF
