Selman Riza (1909–1988) 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 ...

linguist and Albanologist. Riza was one of the founding members of the

Albanological Institute of Pristina Albanological Institute of Pristina, sq, Instituti Albanologjik i Prishtinës or ''Instituti Albanologjik - Prishtinë'', is the main Institute of Albanology in Kosovo. It is an independent public institution. Together with the Centre of Albanolog ...

in 1953.

Early life

Selman Riza was born in

Yakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

(now

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

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) ...

on 21 December 1909. In 1922 he migrated to Albania, where he first studied in the "Naim Frashëri" school. At the time of his graduation in 1925 he was honored as the best student of the school and gained a scholarship in the National Lyceum of Korçë in 1925. As Riza graduated three years earlier than the regular duration of the studies the lyceum's director Leon Perre suggested him for the annual scholarship of the ministry of education. In 1931 he gained a scholarship in the University of Toulouse, where in three years he graduated from both the faculties of French language and literature and that of law. Later he studied in the

University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

, where he graduated from the faculty of German language. After returning to Albania he joined the faculty of the National Lyceum of Korçë.

Politics

After the Italian invasion of Albania protests were held in many parts of Albania. Selman Riza was arrested by the Italian authorities in the protest of Korçë held in the national day of Albania, on 28 November 1939. The documents of the town's fascist militia describe him as an anti-Italian activist, who disseminated antifascist material among his students. In 1940 Riza was arrested again and transferred to the

Santo Stefano Santo Stefano is the Italian name of Saint Stephen. Santo Stefano may also refer to: Places Islands *Santo Stefano (island), an island in Sardinia, Italy *Santo Stefano Island, an island in the Pontine Islands, Italy Cities, towns and villages i ...

internment camp. In October 1941 he was released and moved to Durrës and in July 1942 to Kosovo, where he founded the ''Irredentist Antifascist Movement'', an anti-nazi and

anticommunist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...

organization. The manifesto of the organization was published in Tiranë in December 1943. In 1945 he returned to the city, but was arrested one day later by the Communist regime. Yugoslav authorities asked for his extradition, which was initially accepted but later the decision was overturned after the intervention of the minister of justice Manol Konomi. In 1948 a new extradition request was accepted and he was moved to Yugoslav prisons. Riza was released in 1951, because he was heavily afflicted by

scurvy Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding ...

Later life

After his release he co-founded the

along with Ilhami Nimani, Mehdi Bardhi, and Ali Rexha. In 1955 he returned to Albania and worked at the Institute of Linguistics and Literature in

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 the faculty of philology of the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana ( sq, Universiteti i Tiranës, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the ''State University of Tirana'' in 1957 through merging of ...

. In April 1967 he was again put to trial and as a result his writing and publishing rights were revoked. After being transferred to Berat his right to borrow books from the library was revoked too. Selman Riza died in 1988, while most of his works were published post-mortem. In 2005 Ibrahim Rugova, President of Kosovo, posthumously awarded him with the Golden Medal of the League of Prizren and in 2009 Fatmir Sejdiu, his successor awarded Riza with the Golden Medal of Freedom.

Works

In 1944 his commentary work on Albanological studies, titled ''Tri Monografina Albanologjike'', was published in Tiranë. His works' main subjects include variants of the

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

used in early Albanian literature, especially with

Gjon Buzuku Gjon Buzuku (15 March 1499 – 9 October 1577) was an Albanian Catholic priest who wrote the first known printed book in Albanian. Gjon Buzuku according to the elders wrote the Missal in the village of Brisk Posht in the Shestan - Krajë region, c ...

's ''Meshari''. His 1952 study on the Serbo-Croatian grammar is regarded as a work of

contrastive analysis Contrastive analysis is the systematic study of a pair of languages with a view to identifying their structural differences and similarities. Historically it has been used to establish language genealogies. Second language acquisition Contrasti ...

, although that theory was not formulated until five years later by

Robert Lado Dr. Robert Lado (May 31, 1915, Tampa, Florida – December 11, 1995, Washington) was an American expert on modern linguistics. Early life His parents were Spanish immigrants who relocated to Spain before he had a chance to learn English. He retu ...

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Riza, Selman 1909 births 1988 deaths Linguists from Albania Linguists from Yugoslavia Albanian resistance members Albanian anti-fascists Albanian anti-communists Albanian nationalists University of Toulouse alumni Heidelberg University alumni Academic staff of the University of Tirana People from Kosovo vilayet 20th-century Albanian people Writers from Gjakova Kosovo Albanians Albanian National Lyceum alumni Yugoslav prisoners and detainees Albanian prisoners and detainees Albanologists Yugoslav expatriates in Albania 20th-century linguists Yugoslav emigrants to Albania