The National Library of Albania, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the scholar and patriot of the Arbers, Vincenzo Dorsa (1823-1885), opened the exhibition with his most important works, bringing to the attention of readers his scholarly activity.

Part of its archival fund are the works “Su gli albanesi: ricerche e pensieri” (1847), “La Tradizione greco – latina negli usi e nelle credenze popolari della Calabria Citeriore” (1884), “Studi etimologici della lingua Albanese” (1862 ), “Il Vangelo di S. Matteo” translated from the Greek text into the Calabrian-Arberian dialect by Vincenzo Dorsa (1869), as well as “On the Albanians: researches and opinions” (2021).

His scholarly works constitute a unique value for the historical, linguistic, folkloric, ethnographic, literary data, as well as for the history of the Arbër settlement that they convey.

The exhibition will remain open to the public in the Scientific Hall of the National Academy of Sciences.

Vincenzo Dorsa was born in Frasnitë on February 26, 1823. He completed his first studies at the College of Saint Adrian in Saint Miter Corone and from 1848 he collaborated with the magazine “Calabrese” in Cosenza, Italy. He distinguished himself for his studies on the popular traditions of Calabria and Albanian culture. Vincenzo Dorsa was a well-known researcher and scholar in Calabrian intellectual circles of the nineteenth century. He was the author of many philological writings and Albanian popular literature. He died in 1885 in Cosenza.

/k.s/