Gjergj Fishta

Gjergj Fishta
FJO TtF
Portrait of Gjergj Fishta, 1930s
Born(1871-10-23)23 October 1871
Fishtë, Albania
Died30 December 1940(1940-12-30) (aged 69)
Shkodër, Albania
NationalityAlbanian
EducationCatholic theology
Occupations
Signature
Signature of Gjergj Fishta

Gjergj Fishta (pronounced [ɟɛɾɟ ˈfiʃta]; 23 October 1871 – 30 December 1940) was an Albanian Franciscan friar, poet, educator, rilindas, politician, translator and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential Albanian writers of the 20th century, particularly for his epic masterpiece Lahuta e Malcís, and he was the editor of two of the most authoritative magazines after Albania's independence, Posta e Shypniës and Hylli i Dritës.[1]

Fishta was the chairman of the Congress of Manastir, which sanctioned the official Albanian alphabet, and he was part of the Albanian delegation to the Versailles Conference in 1919. In 1921, he was a member of the Albanian parliament and eventually became the deputy chairman. Later on, during the 1920s and the 1930s, he was among the most influential cultural and literary figures in Albania.[2] After the Communist regime came to power, his literary oeuvre had been taken out of circulation until the fall of communism in the early 1990s.[3] In recognition of his vast contributions to Albanian literature, he is also known as the "Albanian Homer".[4]

  1. ^ "Fishta, Giorgio". Treccani, Enciclopedia online. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  2. ^ Plasari, Aurel (1999). "Fishta meditans". Fishta: Estetikë dhe Kritikë. Tiranë: Hylli i Dritës & Shtëpia e Librit. p. 11. ISBN 9992764600.
  3. ^ Hamiti 2013, p. 13.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference ElsieDictionary was invoked but never defined (see the help page).