Asdreni | |
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.jpg) Portrait of Asdreni, 1938 | |
| Born | Aleksandër Stavre Drenova (1872-04-11)11 April 1872 Drenovë,Ottoman Empire (present dayAlbania) |
| Died | 11 December 1947(1947-12-11) (aged 75) Bucharest,Romania |
| Pen name | Asdreni |
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| Language | |
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| Literary movement | Albanian Renaissance |
| Relatives | Stavri Thimiu (father) |
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Aleksandër Stavre Drenova (pronounced[alɛkˈsandəɾstaˈvɾɛdɾɛˈnova]; 11 April 1872 – 11 December 1947), commonly known by thepen nameAsdreni, was anAlbanian poet,rilindas, translator, writer and the author of the poem which later became thenational anthem ofAlbania.[1][2] He is regarded as one of the most influentialAlbanian writers of the 20th century and composed most of hisAlbanian Renaissance-inspired known works during that period.
Born in the village ofDrenovë, Asdreni completed his academic studies at theUniversity of Bucharest in Romania where he enthusiastically committed himself to theIndependence of Albania from theOttoman Empire.[3] He maintained close liaison with fellowGjergj Fishta andLasgush Poradeci and was notably inspired by the patriotsGirolamo de Rada andNaim Frashëri.
Rreze dielli, a collection of 99 poems, was his first prominent work which he dedicated to the national hero of AlbaniaGjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg. Devoted toEdith Durham a friend of Albania, his second collection of again 99 poems,Ëndrra e lotë, displayed a wider range of themes and motifs as well as his more astonishing maturity.
On the 30th of June 2021 the new 10000Lekë banknote was issued by the Bank of Albania with the main portrait being that of Asdreni.[4]
Asdreni was born as Aleksandër Stavre Drenova on 11 April 1872 into anAlbanian peasant family ofEastern Orthodox faith in the village ofDrenovë close to the city ofKorçë in what was then part of theOttoman Empire and is nowAlbania.[3][5] In his native village he properly received his early formal education at a Greek primary school and had just started secondary school in Korçë subsequently his father, Stavri Thimiu, died leaving him fatherless.[6]
The surrounding region Korçë had been a prime source ofAlbanian migration which was additionally strengthened by an earthquake in 1879.[3] He consequently migrated toBucharest in 1885 and rejoined his more elderly brothers where he also commenced his short-living studies at the Faculty of Political Science of theUniversity of Bucharest.[3]
In the new country, Asdreni came into liaison with otherAlbanian intellectuals and writers with whom he started to strengthen theAlbanian diaspora in Romania for the struggle of national liberation.[3] Prior to that, he was strongly inspired byGirolamo de Rada andNaim Frashëri as well as by theAlbanian Renaissance in which the Albanians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves.
Asdreni died in 1947 in Bucharest. He was initially buried there, at the Sfânta Vineri Cemetery (whereNikolla Naço is also buried), but his remains were brought to Albania and buried inDrenovë in 1974.[7]
The literary career of Asdreni blossomed simultaneously with the beginning of the 20th century. In his first work, a collection of 99 poems known as theRreze dielli dedicated to the Albaniannational heroSkanderbeg who led a successfulresistance to Ottoman expansion into Europe, he followed the literary traditions ofNaim Frashëri and raised his love for the motherland encouraging his compatriots to enter the struggle forliberation from theOttoman Empire.[3]
Ëndrra e lotë, his second work also composed of 99 poems dedicated toEdith Durham who travelled extensively across Albania, is characterised by a wealth of poetic values. He instantly expressed his democratic values, his interests in societal problems at the time as well as his critical discourses on foreign domination. It was an important step fromRomanticism towardsRealism which was characterised by the historical time frame and reference, and writing about events and situations that happened in real life.
His poem "Kënga e bashkimit" (The Song of Unity), published in the volume Ëndrra [dh]e lotë ("Dreams and tears", 1912), is a clear adaptation of the Romanian song "Hora Unirii" byVasile Alecsandri.[8]
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