The National Library of Albania, in cooperation with the National Book and Reading Center and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, will open on December 15, at 12:00, at the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, the retrospective exhibition “The Albanian Primer’s Path”  1844 – 1942″.

For the first time, this exhibition brings to Prishtina rare examples of primer texts, which are preserved as a valuable heritage in the archival fund of the National Library of Albania, also serving as a reminder of the contributions to the publication of primers of prominent personalities and figures of the nationn in the Albanian language.

They bear as authors the great names of Albanian letters, starting with Veqilharxhi, followed by Kostandin Kristoforidhi, Anastas Kulluriot, Sami Frashëri, Jeronim de Rada, Luigj Gurakuqi, Nikola Lako, Mati Logoreci, Ndre Mjeda, Jani Vreto, Pashko Vasë, Ndoc Nikaj, Parashqevi Qiriazi, Aleksandër Xhuvanin, Ndue Paluca, etc., whom we must remember for their extraordinary contribution.

This exhibition brings about 100 years of the journey of the Albanian primer, starting from the first primer of the Albanian language known to this day, that of Naum Veqilharxhi in 1844, which is thought to have been published in Bucharest or Brail, Romania and going up to in 1942 with the Toscan and Ghegian primers, published by the Ministry of Education in Florence. Most of the exhibited primers were printed abroad, which also reflects the difficult situation that existed in Albania and the difficulties in traveling and cultivating, recognizing and spreading the Albanian language and raising national awareness.

These primers were printed in Bucharest, Constanta, Athens, Thessaloniki, Brussels, Florence, Milan, Vienna, Paris, Istanbul, Sofia, etc. While the first primer printed in the country is that of the “Bashkimi” Society, printed in Shkodër in 1899.

/a.p/