Athanas Sina, also known as Thanas Sina, was 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 ...

journalist, teacher and activist of the

Albanian National Awakening The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the ...

. Sina was the second headmaster of the ''Mësonjëtorja'', the first officially recognized Albanian-language school in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. He was also member of the ''Bashkimi'' organization, whose alphabet proposal in the

Congress of Monastir The Congress of Manastir ( sq, Kongresi i Manastirit) was an academic conference held in the city of Manastir (now Bitola) from November 14 to 22, 1908, with the goal of standardizing the Albanian alphabet. November 22 is now a commemorative da ...

would become the official alphabet of Albania.

Life

Born in

Postenan Postenan is a community in the Korçë County, southern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became part of the municipality Kolonjë. Notable people * Athanas Sina, writer and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. *Jani Vreto, ...

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

during

Pandeli Sotiri Pandeli Sotiri (1842–1892) was an Albanian activist that acted as director of the first Albanian school of modern times in Korçë. Sotiri was one of the most important Rilindas figures that contributed in the propagation of the Albanian languag ...

's tenure as headmaster of ''

Mësonjëtorja Mësonjëtorja or The Albanian School was the first secular school in the Albanian language within Ottoman Albania. It was opened in Korçë during the late Ottoman period. The school building serves as a museum and is located on the north side of ...

'' he was the assistant director and in 1887 became the school's second headmaster. Since 1888 he was the colporter of the Bible Society. Sina collaborated with members of the ''Frasheri'' family and the Bible Society of Costantinople. Because of the strict censure of the Ottoman authorities, Sina moved to Monastir where the "Bashkimi" Society established there by the Qiriazi (Kyrias) family. Along with

Gjergj Qiriazi Gjergj Qiriazi, known as George Kyrias in English (27 May 1868 — 30 December 1912), was an Albanian publisher and writer. He was born in Monastir (modern Bitola), Ottoman Empire (now North Macedonia), where he attended the local school. Like his ...

he translated into Albanian a, but their big list of Old and New Testament books. The books of New Testament were ready and release in the "Bashkimi" Press of the town in 1912. The Old Testament books were close to finish, but the work was interrupted by the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

, with the Serbian army eventually occupying Monastir. They shut down the press and closed the book depot. The colportage activity came to a standstill, and Sina returned to Postenan. Upon Sina's retirement from the colportage work, his son Pandeli Sina continued it for several years. Sina was also the writer of several Albanian-language school textbooks including. In the early 20th century he edited and transliterated in the modern

Albanian alphabet The Albanian alphabet ( sq, alfabeti shqip) is a variant of the Latin alphabet used to write the Albanian language. It consists of 36 letters: ''Note:'' The vowels are shown in bold. The letters are named simply by their sounds, followed by ë ...

Kostandin Kristoforidhi Kostandin Nelko (22 May 1827 – 7 March 1895), known as Kostandin Kristoforidhi, was an Albanian translator and scholar. He is mostly known for having translated the New Testament into Albanian for the first time in the Gheg Albanian dialect in 1 ...

's translation of the gospels.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sina, Athanas Albanian translators Translators to Albanian Activists of the Albanian National Awakening People from Kolonjë Albanian journalists Year of death missing Year of birth missing Albanian educators