Sotir Kolea | |
|---|---|
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| Born | (1872-09-04)4 September 1872 |
| Died | 3 July 1945(1945-07-03) (aged 72) |
| Known for | Albanian National Awakening Bashkimi organization inEgypt Congress of Trieste National Library of Albania |
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Sotir Kolea (1872-1945) was anAlbanian folklorist, diplomat and activist of theAlbanian National Awakening.[1] Along with Thoma Kacori he has been labeled as theLast of theRilindas.
Sotir Kolea was born in the Goricë district ofBerat, southernAlbania (then part of theOttoman Empire) on September 4, 1872.[1] His father Kristo was a lawyer that worked as a legal counselor for the French companyLa Regie Des Tabacs, which held the monopoly on tobacco in theOttoman Empire. At the age of nine he moved toBitola, where his uncle Ilia, a tobacco merchant of the same company, lived. After graduating from the local Greek-language gymnasium, he was hired byLa Regie Des Tabacs and worked in theirOhrid branch. In 1896 he worked as a teacher of Albanian language in the Albanian community ofKavala.[2] Between 1899 and 1902 he was transferred to theDrama and Kavala branches of the company.
Later Kolea migrated to Egypt, where he was elected secretary of the localBashkimi organization. After theAlbanian Declaration of Independence, he took part of a delegation sent to theLondon Conference, together withRasih Dino,Filip Noga, andMehmet Konica.[3] In 1913 he co-organized withFaik Konica theAlbanian Congress of Trieste. After settling in Switzerland he published inLausanne the newspaperL'Albanie from 1915 to 1919.[4] In 1919-20 he was a member of the Albanian delegation to theParis Peace Conference and the Franco-Albanian Administrative Council. In 1920 he migrated toMadagascar and later to France, where he lived inMarseille until 1927.[5] From 1928 to 1937 he served as the director of theNational Library of Albania,[6] the volumes of which tripled during his term. According to some sources, Kolea was the one bringing the rare Codex of Constantine of Berat, part of the Christian literature known as "Kodikët e Shqipërisë" (Albanian Codex), discovered byIlo Mitkë Qafëzezi.[7][8] Since 1937 he had lived in Elbasan, where he died in 1945. His obituary was written by his close friend, the linguistMahir Domi. In 1944 his work on Albanian proverbsNjë tufë proverba was published in Tiranë. In 2002Alfred Moisiu honoured him with the gold medal of theNaim Frashëri Order.
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