Luca Matranga (
Albanian: Lekë Matrënga; 18 May 1569 – 6 May 1619) was an
Arbëresh writer and
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
priest of Byzantine rite in the Albanian community of
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
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.
He is regarded as one of the most important authors of
Albanian literature
Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Alb ...
, as his work contains the oldest written text of Albanian in the
diaspora.
Works
Matranga, who was born in
Piana degli Albanesi, was the translator of a
catechism book entitled ''E mbsuame e krështerë'' (''Christian Doctrine'') from Latin to medieval Albanian. The book was published in Rome, Italy, in the Greek college of St. Athanasios in 1592, and has 28 pages. The introduction of the book is in Italian. The book covers issues of the
Christian doctrine
Christian theology is the theology of Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theologians use biblical exeg ...
. An eight-line poem of Matranga is also included in the book.
The importance of the book for
Albanian literature
Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Alb ...
remains both in the fact that it is the second major book published in Albanian and that the poem is the first form of poetry in Albanian found yet. His book, of which there are two copies, it is absolutely one of the first expressions of philological documented Albanian language in all Albanian literature. This book, ''E Mbësuame e Krështerë'', has particular historical significance, linguistic and literary, being the oldest document in the
''toskë'' variant of Albanian literature.
Main works
*E Mbësuame e Krështerë / La Dottrina Cristiana Albanese (The Albanian Christian Doctrine), Piana degli Albanesi – Rome 1592.
Studies, transcripts and conferences on Luca Matranga
*Shkrimtari mâ i vjetri i italo-shqyptarvet: D. Lukë Matranga, 1592: copa të zgjedhuna e të komentueve per shkolla të mjesme, Skoder, print of Franciscan, 1931.
*La Dottrina cristiana albanese di Luca Matranga : riproduzione, trascrizione e commento del codice Barberini latino 3454 / Luca Matranga, Vatican City, Biblioteca apostolica vaticana, 1964.
*E mbsuame e Krështerë : Critical Edition of manuscripts and printed (1592) / Luke Matranga, curated by Matteo Mandalà, Caltanissetta-Palermo, S. Sciascia, 2004.
Notes and references
See also
*
Arbëreshë people
*
Albanian Literature
Albanian literature stretches back to the Middle Ages and comprises those literary texts and works written in Albanian. It may also refer to literature written by Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and the Albanian diaspora particularly in Italy. Alb ...
External links
Dottrina Cristiana or E mbsuame e Krështerë by Lëkë Matrënga– Michiel de Vaan
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matranga, Luca
1567 births
1619 deaths
People from Piana degli Albanesi
Arbëreshë people
Latin–Albanian translators
Albanian-language writers