Zef Jubani or Giuseppe Jubany in Italian (born ''Zef Ndokillia''; 1818–1880) was an Albanian folklorist and activist of the

Albanian National Awakening 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 the ...

. He is known for the publication of a ''Collection of Albanian Folk

Songs A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetition ...

and Rhapsodies'' in the

Gheg Albanian Gheg (also spelled Geg; Gheg Albanian: ''gegnishtja'', Standard sq, gegërishtja) is one of the two major variety (linguistics), varieties of Albanian language, Albanian, the other being Tosk Albanian, Tosk. The geographic dividing line betwee ...

dialect. Jubani advocated the creation of a unique alphabet 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 ...

. For his political activities, which often were anti-clericalist, Jubani was denounced to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

by the Jesuit missionaries of Shkodër.

Life

Zef Jubani was born in 1818 in Shkodër,

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) ...

, to a notable merchant family from the nearby village of Juban. His mother was from

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, so between 1830 and 1838 he studied there while living with his uncle. After returning to Shkodër he worked since 1848 as a secretary to the French consul of the city and also became the assistant of the vice consul of the United Kingdom in 1853. Jubani spent a significant part of his life 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 prov ...

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...

and modern

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Legacy

Works

Since 1850 Jubani documented the folklore of his home region. In 1858 part of his work was published in the ''Histoire et description de la Haute Albanie ou Guegarie'' written by Hyacinthe Hecguard, then French consul of Shkodër. The original texts of the folk songs documented by Jubani included in Hecguard's work were lost on 13 January 1866 during a flood in Shkodër. His best known work is the ''Collection of Albanian Folk Songs and Rhapsodies'' ( sq, Përmbledhje këngësh popullore dhe rrapsodish shqiptare, it, Raccolta di canti popolari e rapsodie di poemi albanesi) published in 1871 in

. The ''Collection of Albanian Folk Songs and Rhapsodies'' is the first collection of folk songs in the

dialect and the first folklore work published by an Albanian who lived in Albania. The book was published along with two political and philosophical studies of Jubani the ''Current situation of the population of northern Albania'' ( sq, Gjendja aktuale e popullit të Shqiperisë së Veriut) and ''Thoughts on the moral situation and intellectual culture of the Albanian people'' ( sq, Kundrime mbi gjëndjen morale dhe mbi kulturën intelektuale të popullit shqiptar), which were introductory to his main work. In the two introductory studies Jubani advocated for the formation of a literary commission for the purification of the Albanian language and the promotion of Albanian literature. Jubani also supported the creation of a unique alphabet for the Albanian language, arguing that since Albanian was a unique language, it should have a separate alphabet, and wrote a grammar textbook of the Albanian language. In Trieste he became one of the editors of a local newspaper and in 1873 he edited and translated from Ottoman Turkish to Italian ''Law, appendix and procedure of the Ottoman commerce'' ( it, Codice e appendice e procedura commercialo ottomano), a book about commerce practices in the Ottoman Empire. In 1878 he published in Venice a pamphlet to encourage the use of steamships in routes between Albania and Italy. Jubani's study ''On the Albanian poetry and music'' was among the first works that dealt with the polyphonic music of the area of

Myzeqe The Myzeqe (; sq-definite, Myzeqeja; rup, Muzachia) is a plain in the Western Lowlands of Albania. The Myzeqe is the largest and widest plain, measured by area, in the Lowlands. Location The Myzeqe plain is a large alluvial plain traversed by ...

Political philosophy

Jubani's political philosophy was influenced largely by

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, econo ...

and anti-clericalism during his travels in Malta and Italy. He believed that reforms should be based on an industrial economic policy, the center of which would be an Albanian bourgeoisie, whose commerce with Europe would be encouraged and it would pay lower taxes, while that social class would heavily support the industrial development of Albania. He often accused the Catholic and Muslim clergy of inciting and encouraging religious segregation and differences. Jubani criticized the Italian missionaries for teaching only in Italian, while in previous years Albanian had been used too.Clayer, p. 218 The Jesuit missionaries of Shkodër eventually denounced Jubani to the

as an anti-clerical propagandist.

References

Cited

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jubani, Zef 1818 births 1880 deaths Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Albanian folklorists People from Shkodër Sanjak of Scutari Albanian translators Albanian–Italian translators Turkish–Italian translators Albanian male writers 19th-century male writers 19th-century translators