Anton Xanoni

Anton Xanoni or Ndoc Zanoni (born January 12, 1862 in Durrës ; died February 16, 1915 in Shkodra ) was an Albanian Jesuit , teacher , literary theorist and author . Many of the norms for the use of Gegisch go back to him and he had a great influence on the use of the Albanian language in literature .

Life

Anton Xanoni was born in Durrës and grew up in Shkodra. His upbringing was Catholic and he attended a school run by Jesuits , where his talents were recognized and promoted early on. The Jesuits made it possible for Xanoni to go to higher education in various educational institutions. So he learned in 1883 at the Cartuja Santa María Porta Coeli in Spain. Xanoni then attended Jesuit schools in Kraljevica on the Dalmatian coast in 1884 and in Cremona in 1886. From 1890 to 1892 he studied at a Jesuit institution in Cracow and was subsequently ordained a priest in Shkodra . Xanoni taught at the Jesuit College in Shkodra ( Kolegji Saverian ) and in 1896 moved to a Jesuit College in Chieri , Italy, where he taught for a year before returning to Albania.

Xanoni was a member of the literary society Agimi (Dawn) , founded in 1901 , together with Ndre Mjeda and his brother Lazër Mjeda , in which the use of the Albanian language in literature was promoted. Many norms on style and rhetoric in the northern Albanian language go back to his work Prîsi në lâmë të letratyrës (Instructions for Literature) , where, among other things, he advocated replacing many loanwords from other languages ​​with words that have older Albanian roots can be traced back.

In addition to being a theoretician of the Albanian language and literature, Xanoni was an esteemed author himself. From 1908 he regularly published articles on history, literature, culture and politics as well as short stories, poems and highly regarded translations in the Jesuit journal Elçija i Zemers t'Jezu Krisctit (Messages from the Heart of Jesus Christ) . One of his more famous poems was Rrnoftë Shqypnia (Long Live Albania) .

Works

• Prîsi në lâmë të letratyrës (instructions for literature). Shkodra 1911-1912.
• Gramatika shqyp (Albanian grammar). Shkodra 1909.
• Shkurtorja e historís së moçme (overview of ancient history). 1910.

literature

• Robert Elsie: Historical Dictionary of Albania. Second edition. Scarecrow Press, Toronto and Plymouth 2010, ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6 , pp. 487 f.