Lekë Matrënga (Luca Matranga, 1567–1619), Orthodox cleric of the Arber community of Sicily, passed away. He is the oldest arberesh writer in Italy and the author of the second book published in the Albanian language (after that of Buzuku). He was born in Hora e Arbëreshëve (it. Piana degli Albanesi, which at that time was called Piana dei Greci) near Palermo, a village founded by Arbëresh people who fled from Albania and Moreja (Greece). In 1582 he began his studies at the religious college of St. Athanasius in Rome, but after five years, for health reasons, he interrupted his studies and returned to his homeland, where he served as a teacher of the Greek language and culture and where he was ordained a priest in 1601. For the ecclesiastical needs of his compatriots, he translated from Italian into his mother tongue a short catechism in the form of questions and answers. This catechism titled “E mbsuame e krêsterë” was published in Rome in 1592. The work of Matrënga is of great importance for recognizing an older phase of Arbereshian dialects in Sicily. It is also interesting for the short poem, which is the first trace of Albanian rhyme known today. (In the photo: Lekë Matrenga)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1658.
Photo: © https://konica.al/2020/07/poezia-e-pare-shqipe-u-shkrua-nga-leke-matrenga/
Graphic processing: AHCF
