Pandeli Sotiri (1842–1892) 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 ...

activist that acted as director of the first Albanian school of modern times 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 ...

. Sotiri was one of the most important

Rilindas The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where th ...

figures that contributed in the propagation 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 ...

. He also worked on one of the versions of the

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 ...

. The

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 ...

based Albanian's alphabet mostly on Sotiri's precedent work.

Biography

Sotiri was born in 1843 in the village of Selckë in the Lunxhëri region, Janina Vilayet of

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) ...

(now Pogon municipality,

Gjirokastër District Gjirokastër District () was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 55,991 in 2001, and an area of . It contained a large Greek ethnic minority. It is in the sout ...

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 ...

) . Along with

Petro Nini Luarasi Petro Nini Luarasi (born 22 April 1865 in Luaras, Kolonjë, Albania, then Ottoman Empire, and died on 17 August 1911 in Ersekë, Kolonjë, Albania, then Ottoman Empire) was an Albanian rilindas activist, Christian orthodox priest, teacher and ...

he was an alumnus at the Greek teacher seminary in Qestorati,

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

, where

Koto Hoxhi Konstandin Hoxhi, known as Koto Hoxhi (1824–1895) was an advocate of the Albanian language. He taught the language secretly to his students in Qestorat in Southern Albania. He was imprisoned and died in prison for his beliefs. Biography Koto Ho ...

secretly taught in Albanian and inculcated Albanian nationalistic ideals to his students. Sotiri was part of the

Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights The Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights was formed in the city of Istanbul, Turkey, then Ottoman Empire on December 18, 1877, by an influential group of Albanian intellectuals, patriots, and politicians, such as Hasan Tahsini, Abdyl Fras ...

created in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

in 1877, and its branch

Society for the Publication of Albanian Writings Society for the Publication of Albanian Letters ( sq, Shoqëri e të Shtypuri Shkronja Shqip) (Arvanitika: Σ̈oκ̇ε̰ρι ε τε̰ Σ̈τυπȣρι Σ̈κρoν̇α Σ̈κ̇ιπ) was a patriotic organization of Albanian intellectuals, promoti ...

( sq, Shoqëri e të shtypurit shkronjavet shqip), Istanbul, 12 October 1879. In 1884 he took over the publishing of the first magazine entirely written in Albanian, the magazine '' Drita'', which had first been published by

Petro Poga Petro Poga (1860–1944) was an Albanian politician who served as a delegate at the Albanian Declaration of Independence event in Vlorë, 1912, and an important Rilindas. Biography Early life He could've been born in Erind, Gjirokastër, Alb ...

. However Sotiri had to issue a new permit and to change the name of the magazine into ''Dituria'' (meaning "knowledge" in English). In early 1887 Sotiri was issued the permit to open the first Albanian school of modern times in

. On March 7, 1887 the school ( sq,

Mësonjëtorja Mësonjëtorja or The Albanian School was the first secular school in the Albanian language within Ottoman Albania. It was opened in Korçë during the late Ottoman period. The school building serves as a museum and is located on the north side of ...

) opened in the building offered by the ''Terpo brothers'', an Albanian patriotic family. He had married a Greek woman, the niece of an Archbishop of the

Greek Orthodox Church The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

and had to leave the city for Greece that same year. As a result, the Mësonjëtorja was left in the hands of Thanas Sina and

. Sotiri died in 1892 allegedly killed by Greek Orthodox fanatics who threw him from the third floor of his apartment in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, with his wife and father-in-law being the organizers.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sotiri, Pandeli 1840s births 1892 deaths People from Dropull Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Albanian activists Albanian writers Romantic poets Albanian-language writers 19th-century poets