Pandi Geço (1913–1994) 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 ...

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

. He was best known for his unique regionalization of

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 ...

into four physical-geographic regions, a regionalization proposed for the first time by him and still used today. He was also the author of the first Albanian academic

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

s of

geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

Early life and higher education

Pandi Geço was born in

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 1913, the only son of Niko Geço and Katerina Ballauri. He received his primary education in his hometown, Korçë, where he continued his secondary and tertiary education in

French language French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Nor ...

at the

Albanian National Lyceum The Albanian National Lyceum ( sq, Liceu Kombëtar i Korçës or Liceu Francez) was a high school in the city of Korçë, Albania, fully financed by the Albanian government, but that emphasized the French culture and the European values. The schoo ...

. In 1935 he completed his studies in the Lyceum and went to study geography 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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He graduated from the

University of Sorbonne The University of Paris (french: link=no, Université de Paris), Metonymy, metonymically known as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, active from 1150 to 1970, with the exception between 1793 and 1806 under the French Revo ...

in 1940 and that same year returned to his hometown in Albania, where was appointed pedagogue at the same Lyceum at which he had studied.

Career

Eventually he moved to

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

and from 1948 until 1951 he worked in the first post-war Albanian scientific institution, the ''Institute of Studies'' ( sq, Instituti i Studimeve), later called the ''Institute of Sciences'' ( sq, Instituti i Shkencave). In 1951 he moved into the academic didactic system as professor of geography at the High Pedagogical Institute of Tirana. From 1956–1959 he was a member of the Department of Geodesy in the Faculty of Civic Engineering. Between the years 1959–1965 Geço was chief of the Department of Geography of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the

Polytechnic University of Tirana The Polytechnic University of Tirana (UPT) () is a public university located in Tirana, the capital of Albania. It offers degrees in engineering and related fields. History The Polytechnic University of Tirana is the oldest and the second larg ...

and gave lectures until 1974, the year he retired from teaching. He also conducted scientific research and published several articles concerning the regionalization of Albania,

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "place, zone"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. This modern field of stud ...

demographics Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as edu ...

urban geography Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have ...

, and

economic geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography which studies economic activity and factors affecting them. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. There are four branches of economic geography. There is, primary secto ...

. Of particular importance is his study ''Contemplations on the geographical regionalization of Albania'' ( sq, Mendime për rajonizimin gjeografik të Shqipërisë), where, for the first time, Pandi proposed a unique geographical regionalization of Albania, based on the concepts of integral geography. He divided Albania into four physical-geographic regions: Northern Mountain Region, Central Mountain Region, Southern Mountain Region and

Western Lowlands The Western Lowlands ( sq, Ultësira Bregdetare or Ultësira Perëndimore) is a physiogeographical region encompassing the western edge of Albania. It comprises the flat plains extending in the west along the Albanian Adriatic and Ionian Sea Co ...

. This regionalization system is still used today. Geço held the title ''

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

'' and published several geographic academic textbooks, analyzing in detail the demographic evolution of the Albanian urban and rural settlements, particularly the capital Tirana. He was also involved in cultural exchanges with French scientific teams in Albania due to his high academic profile and proficiency in French. After a long career in the field of geography, Geço died in November 1994 in Tirana, at the age of 81.

Notable works

Pandi Geço published several works in both

and French, as well as academic textbooks of geography: *Shqipëria – pamje fiziko-ekonomike ( en, Albania: a physical-economic survey), 1959 *Gjeografia fizike e Shqipërisë ( en, Physical geography of Albania), 1963 It was eventually translated and published in 1961 in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

by the same title. *Mendime për rajonizimin gjeografik të Shqipërisë ( en, Contemplations on the geographical regionalization of Albania ), 1964 *Gjeografia ekonomike e Shqipërisë ( en, Economic geography of Albania), 1970 *Fjalor i termave të gjeografisë: shqip-rusisht-frëngjisht ( en, Dictionary of the terms of geography: Albanian-Russian-French), coauthor with F. Leka and L. Dodbiba, 1975 *In ''"Studime Historike"'': :*Tendenca e zhvillimit të forcave prodhuese në RPSH, e parë ne planin historiko-gjeografik ( en, Development tendency of the productive forces in the People's Republic of Albania, seen from the historical-geographic plan), 1972 :*Disa aspekte të evolucionit të qytetit shqiptar gjatë shek. XX ( en, Some aspects on the evolution of Albanian town during the 20th century), 1975/4 :*Disa aspekte të evolucionit të popullsisë fshatare të RPSSH ( en, Some aspects on the evolution of countryside population of the Socialist People's Republic of Albania), 1977/4 *In ''"Ethnographie albanaise"'': :*L'accroissement de la population urbaine dans la République Populaire d'Albanie et sa nouvelle répartition géographique ( en, The growth of urban population in the People's Republic of Albania and its new geographic distribution), 1976 *In ''"Studime Gjeografike"'': :*Një vështrim i shkurtër fiziko-gjeografik mbi Ultësirën e Shkodrës ( en, Short physical-geographic survey on Shkodra Lowland), 1985

Legacy

Geço is credited for writing the first Albanian geographic textbooks for universities, while his unique regionalization of Albania is still used today. In honour of his scientific contribution to the Albanian geography, the Albanian Association of Geographers led by Prof. Arqile Bërxholi bears the name "Pandi Geço" ( sq, Shoqata Shqiptare e Gjeografëve "Pandi Geço").

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Geco, Pandi Albanian geographers 1913 births 1994 deaths Albanian National Lyceum alumni People from Korçë 20th-century geographers Academic staff of the Polytechnic University of Tirana