Aleksandër Xhuvani, linguist, personality of Albanian education and culture, social and political activist, Teacher of the People, passed away . He was born in Elbasan, in 1880. He received his first lessons in his hometown. He completed his higher philological studies at the University of Athens. He worked in the first national high school, in Elbasan Normal school(December 1909), as a teacher and as its director (1913–1914, 1917–1920, 1922–1929, 1933–1938). He did a great and valuable job for the creation and enrichment of teaching literature, provided the school with a set of language, literature, pedagogical writings, etc. He fought for a national and secular school, for its continuous improvement and further development. After the Second World War, he was a member of the Constitutional Assembly (December 1945), deputy of the People’s Assembly in several legislatures and vice-president of its Presidium for many years, until the end of his life. Aleksandër Xhuvani gave an important contribution to the development of education (1946–1951), to the organization and direction of scientific life as the head of the language and literature section of the Institute of Studies, later called the Institute of Sciences (January 1947 – September 1953) and as a member of its presidium (1947–1957). His scientific activity was concentrated in the field of linguistics: the unity of the literary language and the purity of the language, grammar, lexicology and lexicography, word formation, etc. Directed the drafting of successive spelling guides (1948, 1951, 1954, 1956), which paved the way for the complete unity of Albanian spelling later. He did a valuable job for the enrichment of the literary language, especially for the processing of the Albanian terminology of many branches of knowledge, grammar, literature and pedagogical sciences, etc. Aleksandër Xhuvani was the best connoisseur of the lexical visar of the Albanian language. He patiently and passionately collected many words and expressions from the mouths of the people, which were processed after his death in the form of a dictionary and published for 20 years in the magazine “Studime filologjike” (“Philological studies”) (1971-1990). Aleksandër Xhuvani prepared a second edition of Kostandin Kristoforidi’s “Fjalori i gjuhës shqipe” (“Dictionary of the Albanian language”), transcribed in today’s alphabet, giving this work a new life. Aleksandër Xhuvani has drawn up a series of textbooks on syntax, on the history of Albanian literature, on classical Greek literature, on stylistics, on old and Arbëresh literature, etc. (In the photo: Aleksandr Xhuvani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2959-2960.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleksand%C3%ABr_Xhuvani
Graphic processing: AHCF
