129 years ago, the First Albanian Linguistic Congress was held.

This congress took place in Corigliano Calabro, in the Province of Cosenza, from October 1 to 3, 1895, and was widely covered by the Italian and European press of the time as an event of particular significance. The congress’s theme centered on presenting the grammatical, lexical, and phonetic aspects of the Albanian language—an ancient, sweet, and melodious language that the Arbëresh community preserved and nurtured with exemplary love and patriotism.

The congress was held at the “Garopoli” Gymnasium, attended by 25 congress members, including distinguished linguists, writers, poets, journalists, and clergy from the Arbëresh church.

This scholarly, linguistic, and patriotic event was closely followed by around 500 participants from various municipalities of Calabria, Campania, Apulia, and Sicily. On October 2, 1895, the participants of the Corigliano Calabro Congress approved the establishment of the Albanian National Society, along with its statute and governing council, with Jeronim De Rada, one of the most important figures in 19th-century Albanian literature and the Arbëresh world, as its honorary president.

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