Summary

In 1879, Albanians in Constantinople established the Society for the Development of the Albanian Language, publishing periodicals and patriotic materials using a Latin-based alphabet. After the Ottoman suppression of the League of Prizren, the society relocated to Bucharest in 1884, continuing its cultural nationalist efforts. Both Ottoman authorities and the Greek Orthodox Church opposed Albanian cultural development. In 1886, the Patriarch of Constantinople threatened excommunication for anyone reading or writing Albanian. Despite these obstacles, American-sponsored schools in Korçë secretly taught the language. The 1880s marked the beginning of modern Albanian nationalism, the latest among Balkan peoples.

Ottoman Suppression and the League of Prizren

In 1879, Albanians in Constantinople (Istanbul) founded the Society for the Development (or Publication) of the Albanian Language (Shoqëri e të Shtypuri Shkronja Shqip, also known as Drita – “Light”). The society promoted a mixed alphabet (largely Latin-based), published periodicals, and released inspirational materials on Albania’s past, present, and future.

These efforts were closely tied to the League of Prizren (1878), the first major organized Albanian nationalist movement, which initially focused on resisting territorial losses to neighboring states after the Russo-Turkish War. The Ottoman Porte eventually suppressed the League (1881). In response, the cultural society relocated its activities to Bucharest, Romania, in 1884, following the path of earlier Bulgarian nationalists who had also used the Romanian principalities as a base for cultural work.

The Ottoman state viewed emerging Albanian national consciousness with suspicion, fearing it could lead to separatism. This resulted in periodic bans on Albanian-language publications and education.

Greek Orthodox Church Opposition

The excerpt explicitly notes that “The Greeks as well as the Turks participated in the persecution of Albanian culture.” One of the most striking examples occurred in 1886, when the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople threatened to excommunicate anyone caught reading or writing in Albanian. Priests reportedly taught that God would not understand prayers offered in Albanian.

This ecclesiastical ban was not merely religious. Many Orthodox Albanians (especially in southern Albania/Epirus) fell under the jurisdiction of the Greek-dominated Patriarchate, which promoted Hellenization and viewed Albanian linguistic separatism as a threat to Greek cultural and territorial claims in the region.

Kosmas of Aetolia

A particularly harsh example of anti-Albanian sentiment predates the 19th-century awakening but was emblematic of deeper prejudices. Kosmas of Aetolia (c. 1714–1779), a Greek Orthodox monk and missionary later canonized as a saint, preached vigorously against the use of Albanian:

“If I hear Albanian spoken, I shall mark it as a great sin… Albanian is the language of Satan.”

Transcribed:

“In 1879, the Albanians resident in Constantinople formed a Society for the Development of the Albanian Language, which used a mixed alphabet, largely Latin. It published its own periodical, and issued an inspirational pamphlet on the past, present, and future of Albania. Suppressed after the Turks had shut down the League of Prizren, the society transferred its headquarters to Bucharest in 1884. Like the Bulgarians twenty years earlier, the Albanians found refuge in Rumania, and continued their cultural nationalist activities there.

The Greeks as well as the Turks participated in the persecution of Albanian culture. In 1886, the Patriarch of Constantinople threatened to excommunicate anybody found reading or writing Albanian. There were, however, two American-sponsored schools in Korcha, one for boys, and one for girls, where the native language was openly taught, and whose pupils clandestinely taught their families and friends to read and write it. The decade of the 1880’s was the seed-time of nationalism for the least advanced of the Balkan peoples.”

Source

U.S. Library of Congress Country Study on Albania. “The Rise of Albanian Nationalism” (part of the Albania: A Country Study).