Kostandin Kristoforidhi was born in Elbasan, a cultivator and researcher of the Albanian language, an activist of the National Renaissance in education and culture. In 1847, he attended the “Zosimea” gymnasium in Ioannina. In 1857, he went to Istanbul and drafted a “Memorandum on the Albanian language” to demonstrate the need for a new work with Albanian translations. He stayed in Malta until 1860 at a Protestant seminary, where he completed the translation of the “New Testament” into Tosk and Gheg. From 1861 to 1865, he settled as a teacher in Tunis, where he entered into relations with the representative of the London Bible Society in Istanbul. In 1866, he published the first Gheg translation of the “Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles” and continued for many years with translations from the Holy Scriptures: “Psalms” (Tosk 1868, Gheg 1869), “New Testament” (Gheg 1869, Tosk 1870), “Proverbs of Solomon” etc. From 1870 onwards, he traveled several times throughout Albania to collect words and expressions from the mouths of the people, to distribute his books, and to teach compatriots written Albanian. Kostandin Kristoforidhi’s activity focused on two closely related fields: language and Albanian education. In 1867, he published the Gheg “Alphabet”, in 1868 the Tosk version, and small books for students. He tried together with Hasan Tahsini and others to establish Albanian schools. He brought out the values of the people’s language, helped the purity of the language, and demonstrated that the dialects of Albanian had no major differences. He attempted prose with the story “The Mountain Dwellers” (1902). He supported the hope for the freedom of Albania in children, seeing the national awakening through school, culture, and the mother tongue as the main means of national progress. He passed away in 1895. (In the photo: Kostandin Kristoforidihi)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1350-1351.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostandin_Kristoforidhi
Graphic processing: AHCF
