-On December 8, 1863, Edith Durham was born, British traveler, artist, and author, who became famous for her writings about life in the Albanian lands, at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. For 20 years Edith Durham traveled through the Balkans focusing more on the Albanian issue.

-The Extraordinary Assembly of the Pan-Albanian Federation “Vatra” in the US, which was held in Boston on December 8, 1912 decided that Faik Konica be sent as a delegate to Europe and Albania to present to the European diplomacy and the provisional government of Vlora the Vatra’s positions on solving the issue of throne of Albania and the drafting of the constitution.

-On December 8, 1916, Themistokli Gërmenji with an armed force of 300, entered Korça to liberate it from the Greek army.

-On December 8, 1921, Mikel Markjanoi, historian of literature, folklorist and Arbëresh translator, passed away. He is the author of the first and most complete monograph dedicated to Jeronim de Rada.

-On December 8, 1922, the Albanian National Council approved the expansion of the bases of the High Council Canon or as the expanded Statute of Congress of Lunsha was called. Practically, it is the first constitution of the Albanian state approved by a national representative.

-On December 8, 1937, France awarded the Albanian intellectual and poet Ali Asllani with the high decoration of “Academy Officer”. Asllani was born in the village of Vajzë in Vlora and was educated at the high school in Janina/Ioannina. Prime Minister of first Albanian government (1912), Ismail Qemali appointed Ali Asllani as general secretary of the council of ministers where he stayed until January 22, 1914. He is one of the first founders of the League of Writers and Artists. Ali Asllani passed away in Tirana on December 20, 1966.

-On December 8, 1947, the first issue of the illustrated magazine “Shqipëria e Re” /New Albania/ was published in French. It was printed in Romania. Then the magazine was published gradually in eight languages: Albanian, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish and Arabic and was printed in Moscow. After 1961, the magazine was printed in Albania and continued to be published until 1990.

-In December 1957, the Pedagogical Institute was opened in Shkodër with 66 students and 6 teachers. In 1991 he turned to the University.

-On December 8, 1958, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Cathedral of Saint Stephen in Shkodër, Injac Dema was ordained as a priest, fulfilling the dream of his life. After the closing of the churches, he was not imprisoned but was forced to do manual work. After the reopening of the churches in 1991, Dom Injac resumed the religious mission in the parish “Our Lady Ascended to Heaven” in the surrounding villages of the Diocese of Sapa and then in Dajç of Zadrima where he was serving on May 21, 2002 when Pope John Paul II awarded him “Prelate of honor of his Holiness”. The Clergyman Injac Dema passed away on February 19, 2007 at the age of 82.

-On December 8, 1990, the student movement against the dictatorship in Albania exploded. Several days of protests in the Tirana State University Campus led to the establishment of poilitical pluralism in Albania and the foundation of the Democratic Party, the first opposition political unit. The first anti-communist protest in Albania turned December 8 into The Youth Day.

/a.p./