''Agimi'' (the Dawn) 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 ...

literary society A literary society is a group of people interested in literature. In the modern sense, this refers to a society that wants to promote one genre of writing or a specific author. Modern literary societies typically promote research, publish newsle ...

founded in

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra) is the fifth-most-populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. The city sprawls across the Plain of Mbishkodra between the southern part of Lake Shkod ...

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) ...

in 1901. ''Agimi'' was founded on 15 July 1901, in

(today's

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 ...

) with the initiative of Catholic clerics

Lazër Mjeda Lazër Mjeda (1869–1935) was an Albanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, and a member of the Mjeda family. Biography Lazër (Llazar) Mjeda was born in Shkodër, Ottoman Empire — present-day Albania — on March 6, 1869. From 1900 to 190 ...

and

Ndre Mjeda Ndre Mjeda (20 November 18661 August 1937) was an Albanian philologist, poet, priest, rilindas, translator and writer of the Albanian Renaissance. He was a member of the Mjeda family. He was influenced by the Jesuit writer Anton Xanoni and t ...

(brothers). Other member would be writers and publicists Anton Xanoni, and Mati Logoreci. It aimed at stimulating the use of

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 ...

in literature, in particular by means of a new alphabet. The Mjeda brothers were initially members of the literary society '' Bashkimi''. They moved own with their own society due to divergences on the future standard

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 ...

. ''Bashkimi'' had generated its own script, known as ''Bashkimi'' Alphabet which was based on pure

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 ...

advocated for a more complex alphabet based on the Croatian model with the used of diacritic letters, such as ž or č, in order to generate a distinct letter for each distinct sound. This would be known as ''Agimi'' alphabet. (*only in foreign words) Sample text in the Agimi alphabet: Kelit i fali lala ńi mołə tə bukurə. Sá škoj nə špiə i þa Linəsə, sə moterəsə. „Ḱyr sá e bukurə âšt kəjo mołə! Eja e t’ a dájmə baškə.“ „Me kênə mã e mađe, i þa e motəra, kišimə me e daə baškə; por mbassi âšt aḱ e vogelə, haje vetə.“ „Ani ča? þa Keli, t’ a hámə baškə, se mə vjen mã e mirə.“ ''Kəndime pər škołə tə para tə Šḱypəniəsə: Pjesa e parə'', a
Albanian National Library
f. 100. ''Agimi'' alphabet was presented in 1902 at the International Congress of Orientalists, which was held in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. It received a favorable reception by the

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

and German scholars. In 1908, it was one of the three candidate alphabets presented at the Albanian

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 today's

Bitola Bitola (; mk, Битола ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki ...

). The society was represented by Ndre Mjeda and Mati Logoreci. Based on Congress delegate's votes it lost to

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 ...

's ''Bashkimi'' alphabet and ranked third, so it wasn't adopted.
The society members published many works during their active lifespan, some of them in the new alphabet. Such were Logoreci's work ''Dašamiri'' (The Patron), published in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, 1907. Ndre Mjeda and Anton Xanoni also published a number of readers for Albanian schools.

References

{{reflist Albanian literature Albanian language History of Shkodër Organizations established in 1901 Organizations of the Albanian National Awakening Albanian writers' organizations 1901 establishments in the Ottoman Empire

See also

References