Francesco Crispi, an Italian political and state figure of Arbëresh origin, passed away. He was born in Ribera (Sicily) in 1818. He collaborated with Garibaldi in the Sicilian revolution (1859) and became his political advisor. He was elected as a deputy to the first Italian parliament, which convened in Florence (1861). He served as Prime Minister of Italy in the years 1887–1891 and 1893–1896. In foreign policy, he supported the Triple Alliance (Germany-Austria-Hungary-Italy) and Italy’s colonial expansion in Africa, which led to the formation of the Italian colony of Eritrea (1890). As Prime Minister, he supported in the 1890s Italy’s economic, political, and cultural penetration into Albania. During his administration, the idea emerged among Rome’s political circles of an Independent Albania under Italy’s protection, and the first Italian state Catholic school was opened in Shkodër (1888). From 1896, under Prime Minister Francesco Crispi, other Italian schools began to be established in Shkodër, Durrës, Janina, and Vlora. Initially, lessons were taught in Italian, but by the early 20th century, the Albanian language was also introduced in these schools. Thanks to Francesco Crispi’s initiative and the Arbëresh community’s love for the Albanian language, the Linguistic Congress of the Arbëresh of Italy was held in 1895 in Corigliano Calabro, where the “Shoqëria Kombëtare Shqiptare” (“National Albanian Society”) was founded, led by Anselmo Lorekio.
Text : Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, , Tirana, 2008, pages 1347–1348.
Photo: © Radio Ndradi
Graphic processing: AHCF
