Ndre Mjeda | |
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.jpg) Portrait of Ndre Mjeda photographed byKel Marubi, 1920s | |
| Born | (1866-11-20)20 November 1866 Shkodër,Ottoman Empire |
| Died | 1 August 1937(1937-08-01) (aged 70) Shkodër,Albanian Kingdom |
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| Literary movement | Albanian Renaissance |
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Ndre Mjeda (20 November 1866 – 1 August 1937) was anAlbanianphilologist, poet, priest,rilindas, translator and writer of theAlbanian Renaissance. He was a member of theMjeda family.[1][2]
He was influenced by theJesuit writer Anton Xanoni and theFranciscan poet Leonardo De Martino.
From 1880 until 1887, Mjeda studied literature at theCarthusian monastery of Porta Coeli, inValencia, Spain,rhetoric,Latin and Italian in Croatia at a Jesuit institution, at theGregorian University in Rome, and at another Gregorian college inChieri, Italy. During these studies, Mjeda began to write Albanian poetry. Some of his most famous poems includeVaji i Bylbylit (The Nightingale's Lament) (1887) andVorri i Skanderbegut (Skanderbeg's grave).
Mjeda also taught music inCremona, Italy, at the College of Marco Girolamo Vida from 1887 to 1891, and translated various religious literature. He publishedJeta e sceitit sc' Gnon Berchmans (The Life of St John Berchmans) (1888), andT' perghjamit e Zojs Bekume (Imitation of the Holy Virgin) (1892), a translation from Spanish,Katekizmi i Madh (The Great Catechism), another translation, andHistoria e Shejtë (Sacred History).
Mjeda later on studied theology at the Jesuit college inKraków,Poland, and taught philosophy andphilology, as well as served as a librarian at the Gregorian college inKraljevica, where he was also appointed professor oflogic andmetaphysics. He was expelled in 1898 after a conflict betweenAustria-Hungary and theVatican. In 1899, Mjeda, along withPreng Doçi andGjergj Fishta founded theShoqnia e bashkimit të gjuhës shqipe (Society for the Unity of the Albanian Language) literary society, usually known as theShoqnia Bashkimi (The Union Society), or simplyBashkimi (The Union) of Shkodra for publishing Albanian language books.[3][4]
In 1901, Mjeda founded theAgimi (Dawn) Society in Shkodër.[5][4] Mjeda devised the Agimi alphabet based on Latin characters following the principle of one letter for a sound and used diacritic marks for other peculiar sounds in the Albanian language.[5][3] InHamburg 1902, Mjeda's alphabet was approved by the International Congress of the Orientalists and in May by most of the Catholic clergy in Shkodër.[5][4] Books subsidized by Austria-Hungary were published in the Agimi Alphabet which rivaled the Bashkimi Alphabet for writingAlbanian.[5] In 1908, Mjeda was a delegate at the Albanian alphabetCongress of Monastir representing the Agimi Society.[6] Mjeda supported the Latin character Istanbul alphabet as it contained the principle of one letter, one sound and its Latin characters were also similar to the rival Bashkimi alphabet.[7] Toward the late Ottoman period, Mjeda supported Austro-Hungarian intervention in Albanian affairs within the Ottoman Empire.[8]
Mjeda served as a member of theAlbanian Literary Commission, in Shkodër, under the Austro-Hungarian administration, as well as a deputy in theNational Assembly of Albania. He left politics afterFan Noli's defeat, and the rise ofKing Zog. He then served as a parish priest inKukël, and taught theAlbanian language andliterature at the Jesuit college in Shkodër until his death.
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