Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters ( sq, Shoqëri e të Shtypuri Shkronja Shqip) (

Arvanitika Arvanitika (; Arvanitika: , ; Greek: , ), also known as Arvanitic, is the variety of Albanian traditionally spoken by the Arvanites, a population group in Greece. Arvanitika is today endangered, as its speakers have been shifting to the use ...

: Σ̈oκ̇ε̰ρι ε τε̰ Σ̈τυπȣρι Σ̈κρoν̇α Σ̈κ̇ιπ) was a

patriotic Patriotism is the feeling of love, devotion, and sense of attachment to one's country. This attachment can be a combination of many different feelings, language relating to one's own homeland, including ethnic, cultural, political or histor ...

organization of

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 ...

intellectuals, promoting publications in

, especially school texts, which were extremely important for the younger generation's education. It was founded on 12 October 1879 in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

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) ...

History

The society was founded by elite members of the

Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights The Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights was formed in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, then Ottoman Empire on December 18, 1877, by an influential group of Albanian intellectuals, patriots, and politicians, such as Hasan Tahsini, Abdyl Fras ...

, led by

Sami Frashëri Sami bey Frashëri ( tr, Şemseddin Sami Bey; June 1, 1850 – June 18, 1904) or Şemseddin Sâmi was an Ottoman Albanian writer, philosopher, playwright and a pr ...

Abdyl Frashëri Abdyl Dume bey Frashëri ( tr, Fraşerli Abdül Bey; 1 June 1839 – 23 October 1892) was an Ottoman Albanian civil servant, politician during the First Constitutional Era of the Ottoman Empire, and one of the first Albanian political ideologues ...

, and other

Rilindas 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 ...

Jani Vreto Jani Vreto (14 January 1822 – 9 July 1900) was an Albanian writer, printer, publisher and important figure of the Albanian National Awakening. He was responsible for setting up and overseeing the work of the first Albanian printing house in Buc ...

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 ...

Koto Hoxhi Konstandin Hoxhi, known as Koto Hoxhi (1824–1895) was an advocate of the Albanian language. He taught the language secretly to his students in Qestorat in Southern Albania. He was imprisoned and died in prison for his beliefs. Biography Koto Ho ...

Pashko Vasa Pashko is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Gramoz Pashko (1955–2006), Albanian economist and politician * Josif Pashko (1918–1963), Albanian politician * Walter Pashko (1930–2006), American painter See also * Pasco (di ...

, etc. Its members represented all Albanian territories and all religions. Not much is known on the discussions that took place during the seances, due to lack of ''

Procès-verbal Procès-verbal ( French ''procès'', process, Late Latin ''verbalis'', from ''verbum'', word) is a legal term with a number of meanings: In law *in Francophone countries, such as France, the term "procès-verbal" is frequently mentioned as "P.V." ...

s'' or specific ''

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

s'' on this event. All is known is that

Hasan Tahsini Hoxhë Hasan Tahsini or simply Hoxha Tahsim (7 April 1811 – 3 July 1881) was an Albanian alim, astronomer, mathematician and philosopher. He was the first rector of Istanbul University and one of the founders of the Central Committee ...

proposed his own alphabet, a ''

sui generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...

'' one derived out of geometrical lines and even printed later in few pages, while the final alphabet was accepted that of Sami Frashëri based on

Latin script The Latin script, also known as Roman script, is an alphabetic writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae, in southern Italy ...

with some enrichment. The pamphlet "Etudes sur l’Albanie et les Albanais", originally written in French and published in Istanbul in 1879 was one of the initial publications. Following the re-publication in French in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, the pamphlet was also published in English in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and in German in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

thanks to the Ottoman consul in Paris. The volume was later on translated into Albanian, Ottoman Turkish and Greek and finally into Arabic (1884) and Italian (1916).
In the summer of 1881,

opened in

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

the

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

n branch of the society. The

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ian branch was founded by

Spiro Dine Spiro(s) may refer to: * Spiro, Oklahoma, a town in the U.S. ** Spiro Mounds, an archaeological site * Spiro (band), a British music group * Spiro (name), including a list of people with the name * Špiro, South Slavic masculine given name * ARA ...

from the town of

Vithkuq Vithkuq is a village and a former municipality in the Korçë County, southeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Korçë. The population at the 2011 census was 1,519. The municipal unit c ...

near

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau some ...

, in Shibin Al Kawm, during 1881 as well.
After its activities were banned, the society transferred in

were many publications in

were to follow in so called ''Instambul Alphabet'' (see

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 ...

). It was there where the textbooks of

Sami Frashëri Sami bey Frashëri ( tr, Şemseddin Sami Bey; June 1, 1850 – June 18, 1904) or Şemseddin Sâmi was an Ottoman Albanian writer, philosopher, playwright and a pr ...

, like ''Abetarja e Shkronjëtoreja'' - Grammatical Work, 1886, and ''Abetare e gjuhësë shqip'', 1886, etc. would come to life.
The society gave huge contribute to education in Albanian back in the days, and emphasized the need for a unified

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 ...

Founders

The list of founders as appears in the statute printed in A. Zelici's print shop:

Istanbul Alphabet

The society came out with the so-called Istanbul Alphabet ( sq, Alfabeti i Stambollit), or "Frashëri" Alphabet in reference to Sami Frashëri, which was widely used by most of the Albanians for almost 30 years. It was one of the three candidate alphabets at 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 ...

in 1908. The standard

was based on it, with few modifications injected from the ''Bashkimi'' Alphabet of

Gjergj Fishta Gjergj Fishta (; 23 October 187130 December 1940) was an Albanian Franciscan friar, poet, educator, politician, rilindas, translator and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential Albanian writers of the 20th century due to his epic ...

Union Society Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

, reaching the form it still preserves today.

References

{{Authority control Albanian writers' organizations Albanian language 1879 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Organizations of the Albanian National Awakening