Kostandin Kristoforidhi, scholar and researcher of the Albanian language, activist of the National Renaissance in education and culture, passed away. He was born in Elbasan. In 1847 he finished the “Zosimea” gymnasium in Ioannina. In 1857, he went to Istanbul and drew up a “Memorandum for the Albanian language” to show the need for a new work with Albanian translations. He stayed in Malta, until 1860, in a protestant seminary, where he completed the translation of the “New Testament” into Turkish and Greek. From 1861 to 1865, he settled as a teacher in Tunisia, where he entered into relations with the representative of the London Bible Society in Istanbul. In 1866, he published the first Greek translation “Katër Ungjijtë dhe punët e Apostujve” (“The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles”). He continued for many years the translations from the Holy Scripture: “Psallmet” (“Psalms”) (tosk dialect 1868, gheg dialect 1869) “New Testament” (gheg dialect 1869, tosk dialect 1870), “Të bërët dhe të dalët” (tosk 1880), “Fjalët e urta të Solomonit” (“Proverbs of Solomon”), etc. Since 1870, he traveled several times around Albania to collect words and expressions from the mouths of the people, to spread his books and to to teach his compatriots the written Albanian. Kostandin Kristoforidhi’s activity was focused on two closely related fields: in the field of Albanian language and education. In 1867 he published “Abetare” (“Primer”) in gheg dialect, in 1868 in tosk dialect and small books for students. Together with Hasan Tahsin and others, tried to establish the Albanian school. He brought to light the values of the treasures of the language of the people, helped with the purity of the language, and proved that the dialects of the Albanian language did not have great differences. He tried prose with the story “Gjaja e malësorëve” (“The matter of the highlanders”) (1902). He relied the hope for Albania’s freedom in the youth, seeing national awakening primarily through education, culture, and the native language, considering it the most important means for national progress. (In the photo: Kostandin Kristoforidihi)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 2 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 1350-1351.
Photo: © Xhoxhi L., personal archive
Graphic processing: AHCF
