Francesco Antonio Santori ( Arbërisht: Françesk Anton Santori or Ndon Santori; September 16, 1819 – September 7, 1894) was an Arbëresh writer, poet and playwright. His

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

''Emira'' is considered to be the first original Albanian drama ever written. The main character is a young and innocent girl who becomes a victim. Albanian literature of that time does not present many female characters like Emira.

Life

Santori was born on September 16, 1819, in Santa Caterina Albanese, an

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name *Arbëres ...

town in the

province of Cosenza The province of Cosenza () is a province in the Calabria region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Cosenza. It contains 150 ''comuni'' (: ''comune''), listed at list of ''comuni'' of the province of Cosenza. The province of Cosenza contains ...

, modern southern Italy. In 1835 at the age of sixteen he decided to become a priest and started his training for priesthood. In 1843 he entered the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

monastery of the Reformed Order in

San Marco Argentano San Marco Argentano is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Main sights include the Norman tower, several churches and the ruins of an abbey, Santa Maria della Matina. San Marco Argentano was ...

. In 1858 he unsuccessfully tried to found a monastery in Lattarico, and in 1860 he abandoned monastic life. He continued living in Santa Caterina Albanese, where he worked as a teacher and a vendor of a

spinning jenny The spinning jenny is a multi- spindle spinning frame, and was one of the key developments in the industrialisation of textile manufacturing during the early Industrial Revolution. It was invented in 1764–1765 by James Hargreaves in Stan ...

he had constructed. In 1885 he was assigned as priest in San Giacomo di Cerzeto, a village of Cerzeto where he worked until his death on September 7, 1894.

Work

During his life Santori wrote poetry, novels, plays and short stories. He also adapted 112 of

Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stor ...

and wrote an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

grammar book. Santori wrote and finished his first poetry, titled ''Canzoniere Albanese'' () in the 1830s and published it in 1846. ''Canzoniere Albanese'' is a long

lyric poem Modern lyric poetry is a formal type of poetry which expresses personal emotions or feelings, typically spoken in the first person. The term for both modern lyric poetry and modern song lyrics derives from a form of Ancient Greek literature, th ...

dedicated to love and nature. The poem was influenced by

Girolamo de Rada Girolamo de Rada ( Arbërisht: ''Jeronim de Rada''; 29 November 181428 February 1903) was an Arbëreshë folklorist, journalist, lawyer, playwright, poet, rilindas and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential Albanian writers of ...

's ''Song of Milosao''. In 1848 he composed a hymn in Albanian titled ''Valle haresë madhe'' (), published on February 23, 1848, in De Rada's journal ''L'Albanese d'Italia'' (). In 1848 his bilingual political poem ''Il prigionero politico'' () written in Albanian and Italian was published in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. The poem recounts the changes of the life of a persecuted family during the

revolutions of 1848 in the Italian states The 1848 Revolutions in the Italian states, part of the wider Revolutions of 1848 in Europe, were organized revolts in the states of the Italian peninsula and Sicily, led by intellectuals and agitators who desired a liberal government. As Italian ...

. During his years in the monastery of the Reformed Order in Cerzeto he wrote two religious works. The first work is a religious verse titled ''Rozhaari i S. Myriis Virgkiyry'' (, written in Albanian and published in 1849 in

Cosenza Cosenza (; Languages of Calabria#Northern Calabrian (Cosentian), Cosentian: ''Cusenza'', ) is a city located in Calabria, Italy. The city centre has a population of approximately 70,000, while the urban area counts more than 200,000 inhabitants. ...

. The second one is a 230-page collection of prayers, religious texts and translations of religious songs titled ''Kryshten i shyityruory'' () published in 1855 in Naples. ''The Sanctified Christian'' contains parts of

Cuneus Prophetarum ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' (, ) is a philosophical, theological and scientific treatise written by Pjetër Bogdani, an Albanian philosopher, originally published in Padua in 1685 in Albanian and Latin. It is considered to be the most prominent wor ...

published in 1685 and written by

Pjetër Bogdani Pjetër Bogdani (; 1627 – 6 December 1689) was the most original writer of Old Albanian literature. He was author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (''The Band of the Prophets''), 1685, the first prose work of substance written originally in (Gheg) A ...

, one of the most important writers of early Albanian literature. Santori included excerpts of ''Cuneus Prophetarum'' in his book to symbolize the continuity of Albanian religious literature. Santori wrote many plays, including melodramatic comedies and tragedies some of which remain incomplete. His plays include ''Jeroboam'', a tragedy of biblical content and ''Alessio Dukagino'' a melodrama written between 1855 and 1860, recounting the life of

Lekë Dukagjini Lekë III Dukagjini (1410–1481), mostly known as Lekë Dukagjini, was a 15th-century member of the Albanian nobility, from the Dukagjini family. A contemporary of Skanderbeg, Dukagjini is known for the '' Kanuni i Lekë Dukagjinit'', a code of ...

, an

prince who fought against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

. His best-known play, ''Emira'', titled after the name of its central figure, is considered to be the first original Albanian drama ever written. The drama recounts the adventures of Emira, Kalina, Albenci, and Mirjani during a social revolt in

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

, and the life in the Arbëreshë communities. Some parts of the play were published originally in the journal ''Fjamuri Arbërit'' () and later in Jeronim de Rada's ''Albanian Anthology''. In modern years, 1,845 lines of

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

verse written by Santori have been found. Most of Santori's novels and short stories were published after his death in 1894. His novels include ''Sofia Kominiate'', an unfinished novel written in two versions. The first version contains 282 pages and is written in Albanian, while the second version, written in Italian, contains 714 pages. No copies have survived from his novel ''Bija e mallkuar'' () written in Albanian. He also wrote the novel ''Il soldato albanese'' () in Italian. Santori wrote many short stories known by the names of their central figures. His short stories written in Albanian include: ''Brisandi Lletixja e Ulladheni, Emilja, Fëmija Pushtjerote, Filaredo, Gnidhja e Kusari, Kolluqi e Sorofina, Miloshini, Neomenia, Panaini e Dellja, Rosarja'', and ''Virgjinia''.

Influences and style

Santori's works are written in an archaic form of

Tosk Albanian Tosk ( sq-definite, toskërishtja) is the southern group of dialects of the Albanian language, spoken by the ethnographic group known as Tosks. The line of demarcation between Tosk and Gheg (the northern variety) is the Shkumbin River. Tosk is ...

and are generally more accessible to the audience despite his orthographic style. In his works he uses his own spelling system without any phonetic accuracy. Common themes in Santori's works include rural life, the period of the

League of Lezhë The League of Lezhë (), also commonly referred to as the Albanian League (), was a military and diplomatic alliance of the Albanian aristocracy, created in the city of Lezhë on 2 March 1444. The League of Lezhë is considered the first unif ...

of Albanian history and the customs of Arbëreshë communities. His political poems contain moralistic motifs describing the central ideas and feelings of the characters of each poem. In several of his poems like ''Dance of great joy'' Santori describes folkloric elements of Albanian culture like folk songs and dances.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santori, Francesco Antonio 1819 births 1894 deaths Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Arbëreshë people 19th-century Italian poets People from the Province of Cosenza Writers from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Italian male poets Albanian-language poets Albanian-language writers Italian male short story writers 19th-century Italian novelists Italian male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian short story writers 19th-century Italian dramatists and playwrights 19th-century Italian male writers

Life

Work

Influences and style

See also

Sources