Bernardo Bilotta ( Arbërisht: Binard Bilota; November 29, 1843 – June 16, 1918) was an Italian priest, poet and folklorist of

Arbëreshë Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name * Arbëresh ...

descent.

Life and career

Born in

Frascineto Frascineto ( aae, Frasnita) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. ...

to Emanuele Bilotta and Francesca Martire, he studied in

San Demetrio Corone San Demetrio Corone (Arbëreshë: ''Shën Mitri'') is a town and municipality in the Calabria region of Italy, at an altitude of 521 meters and with 3,387 inhabitants. The town is among the most important cultural centers of the Albanian communit ...

and was ordained as a

Byzantine rite The Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite or the Rite of Constantinople, identifies the wide range of cultural, liturgical, and canonical practices that developed in the Eastern Christianity, Eastern Christian Church of Constantinople. Th ...

priest in 1866. Interested in pedagogy and in classical and modern literatures and languages, he graduated as a school teacher and taught in elementary schools in Frascineto. His commitment to the study and the preservation of the

Arbëreshë language Arbën/Arbër, from which derived Arbënesh/Arbëresh originally meant all Albanians, until the 18th century. Today it is used for different groups of Albanian origin, including: * Arbër (given name), an Albanian masculine given name *Arbëreshë ...

brought him to take part in some

linguistic congresses, notably to a congress held in

Corigliano Calabro Corigliano Calabro is a town and a ''frazione'' of Corigliano-Rossano located in the province of Cosenza, c. 40 km northeast of the city of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy. Geography It is situated near the mouth of a river of the same ...

in 1895 and another congress held in

Lungro Lungro ( aae, Ungra) is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of Italy. Lungro is one of the most prominent centers of the Arbëreshë people and the seat of the Eparchy of Lungro. This jurisdiction of the C ...

in 1897. As far as his poetical and writing career is concerned, Bilotta started composing in 1870 when he wrote ''Mercurio Dorsa''. A few years later he began the epic poem ''La Spada di Skanderbeg a Dibre Inferiore'', which he revised four times, from 1874 to 1890. Apart from his production of poems and poetry, he also wrote several philological works about the Albanian language, which he continued publishing until 1915.

References

Albanian-language poets Italian male poets 1843 births 1918 deaths Italian people of Arbëreshë descent Italian philologists Italian folklorists 19th-century Italian poets 19th-century Italian male writers {{Italy-poet-stub