Andrea Dara, son of Gavril Dara (Junior), passed away. He was born in Palazzo Adriano (Sicily), in 1769. He completed his first studies at the Albanian Seminary and the University of Palermo, where he graduated in Law. He belonged to the Dara family, with outstanding cultural and poetic traditions. He was the author of the work “Gramatika e gjuhës shqipe” (“Grammar of the Albanian language”), a publication based on the study of the activities and traditions of Arbëresh people, published in 1830. Later, in 1859, he published an Italian-Albanian dictionary and a volume of folk songs of the Arbëreshs of Sicily. He is mainly known by the general public for completing the collection of old folk songs, which is the work that his father started. According to the researcher Kolë Kamsi, he left behind these unpublished writings: “Albanian-Italian and Italian-Albanian dictionary” (” Vocabolario albanese-Italiano e Italiano-albanese”), rich in words and with a short grammar; “The Gospel of Saint Matthew”(“Il Vangelo di San Matteo”) translated into the Albanian dialect of Palazzo Adriano; “Customs and traditions”(“Usi e costumi di Palazzo Adriano“).(In the photo: View from Palazzo Adriano, Sicily.)
Text: Center of Studies and Publications for Arbëresh, Tirana.
Photo: © https://www.palermotoday.it/cronaca/museo-nuovo-cinema-paradiso-palazzo-adriano.html
Graphic processing: AHCF
