Gjerasim Qiriazi, activist of the national movement, founder of the First Albanian School for Girls in Korça, author of textbooks, Teacher of the People, was born in a patriotic family from Kolonjë in the village of Tërnovë in Manastir. A member of the Evangelical Community of Manastir, he was given the opportunity to continue his studies at the American Protestant Theological College, in Samokov, Bulgaria (1878–1882). He worked as an evangelical missionary of the British Bible Society and distributor of the books of this society in Albania and Macedonia (today, North Macedonia). In addition to the distribution of religious knowledge in the Albanian language, he also spread Albanian secular primers, books and newspapers. Together with his sister, Sevasti Qiriazi, they opened the well-known Albanian school for girls in Korça (1891). For the needs of Albanian schools, he wrote and translated poems in the Albanian language, composed songs, etc. For his activity, he was persecuted by the Ottoman invaders and the clergy of the Greek Megali Idea (the platform of the Greek nationalists for the extension of their state within the Albanian territories). He passed away in 1894. (In the photo: Gjerasim Qiriazi)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2183-2184.
Photo: © https://instituti.org/biografia-kronologjike-e-gjerasim-qiriazit
Graphic processing: AHCF
