On the 200th anniversary of the birth of Pashko Vasa, a key ideator of the Albanian National Awakening, the General Directorate of Archives opened a documentary and photographic exhibition in Shkodra dedicated to his life and work for the national cause.

The jubilee event, held in Vasa’s hometown, featured materials from the Central State Archives, including his studies on Albania and the Albanians, correspondence related to the national cause and personal matters, as well as patriotic poems.

Among the exhibited documents were: Vasa’s historical study Albania and the Albanians, translated into Italian by Milo Shini (Terenc Toçi) in 1916; his famous poem O moj Shqypni (How is Albania Today), written between 1878–1880; a request by his son Said Leon Vassa to the Albanian Legation in Paris for Albanian citizenship; the poem Albanus Albano (Adrianople, 1881); the poem Au printemps (Spring), written in Beirut on April 13, 1884; and several letters addressed to his brother in Shkodra.

The centerpiece of the commemoration was a scientific conference that brought together scholars of history, politics, literature, anthropology, philosophy, and religion, who highlighted Vasa’s interdisciplinary contribution to the ideal of national unity.

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