135th anniversary of Osman Myderrizi, commemorative scholarly roundtable at the Academy of Sciences

On the 135th anniversary of Osman Myderrizi’s birth, the Academy of Sciences of Albania organised a commemorative scholarly roundtable dedicated to his life, work and contribution to linguistics, literature, history and national culture.

The event was organised by the Permanent Commission for Linguistics and Literature and was moderated by Prof. Dr. Anila Omari, who highlighted Myderrizi’s multifaceted and patriotic figure, as a personality with important contributions to Albanian education, science and culture.

The roundtable brought into focus different aspects of his life and activity, including his political and public engagement, his participation in the first Albanian Parliament, his activity as a journalist, teacher and scholar, as well as the periods of exile and internment.

The scholarly papers focused on the multidimensional nature of Myderrizi’s work, particularly his contributions to linguistics, lexicography, the study of old Albanian texts, onomastics and the history of the Albanian language and literature.

Prof. Dr. Seit Mansaku addressed “Osman Myderrizi’s contribution to linguistics”, assessing his role as a grammarian, lexicographer and scholar of old Albanian texts, as well as his help in the study of the literary language and orthography.

Prof. Dr. Anila Omari, meanwhile, focused on Myderrizi’s contribution to toponomastics and the study of Albanian autochthony, comparatively analysing his approaches to pan-Slavist theses on the settlement of the Slavs in Albania.

Another dimension of the scholar’s figure was addressed by Prof. Dr. Albert Doja, who focused on Myderrizi’s role as a scientific critic and on the relations between knowledge, science and the political and social developments of the time.

The roundtable also discussed Myderrizi’s contribution to the study of Albanian writings in the Arabic alphabet and the Gjirokastra manuscripts. Prof. Dr. Mimoza Kore focused on this written heritage, while Dr. Fatos Dibra addressed several Albanian texts of the Islamic tradition, assessing Myderrizi’s work in transcribing and philologically studying them.

Prof. Dr. Enika Abazi, Osman Myderrizi’s granddaughter, offered a perspective on his life and work, emphasising the extraordinary breadth of the scholar’s interests, from history, linguistics, ethnology and lexicography, to literature and national culture.

In closing, Engjëllushe Karaj presented a study carried out in cooperation with Acad. Valter Memisha on Osman Myderrizi’s rich holdings at the Archive of the Institute of Linguistics and Literature. The importance of these holdings for the further study of his activity was assessed, as well as the possibility of publishing the unpublished manuscripts.

The scholarly roundtable served to bring back into focus and reassess Osman Myderrizi’s contribution to the development of Albanology, linguistics and Albanian culture, highlighting the importance of his legacy for further studies.