In the village of Greci, in the province of Avelino, the scholar and franciscan friar Leonardo de Martino was born. Missionary in Shkodër, where he played a leading role in the opening of the first Italian school in Albania, in which he served for almost forty years, from 1865 to 1881. He served as parish priest in Troshan and, in 1871, encouraged the opening of the girls’ school. Subsequently, he embarked on missions in the mountains. He also served as Prenkë Bib Doda’s secretary and as his son’s teacher, Prenkë. He also taught Filip Shiroka, Gjergj Fishta and Ndre Mjeda in childhood. Father Leonardo left Albania at the end of the 19th century. De Martino bequeathed to Albanian culture the wealth he collected during his forty years of service in the Franciscan province: translated and original works written in the Gheg dialect. The famous philologist Justin Rrota, author of the text “Letratyra shqype për shkollat e mjesme” (“Albanian literature for secondary schools”) (1925), says: “Leonardo de Martino is a poet by nature, he wrote and published many poems, as he did not come to Albania, in the Italian language. Then, as he broke his own dialect into Gheg, he got the hang of and wrote with such mastery.”(In the photo: Leonardo de Martino)
Text: Center of Studies and Publications for Arbëresh
Photo: © https://www.kultplus.com/tag/leonardo-de-martino/
Graphic processing: AHCF
