Visar Dodani

Visar Dodani^[a] (1857–1939) was a wealthy^[1] Albanian journalist and activist of the Albanian National Awakening.

Visar Dodani

Life

Visar Dodani was born in Korçë, Ottoman Empire (modern Albania) in 1857.^[2] In 1880 he moved to Bucharest, Romania, where he joined the Albanian association Drita (English: Light), major organization of the Albanian National Awakening. Drita had a newspaper Shqipëria (Albania) and it was published under the stewardship of Dodani.^[1] In Romania, Dodani frequently wrote articles in Romanian newspapers regarding Albanian-related issues.^[2] In 1896 the Romanian government offered him Romanian citizenship. Visar Dodani was also a founding member of the nationalist organization Lidhja Shqiptare Ortodokse.^[3]

Dodani's newspaper, beginning in March 1898, advocated a view of the common Illyrian origin of Albanians and Romanians, and their shared contemporary struggle.^[4]

In 1898 he published the Mjalt' e mbletësë a farë-faresh, viersha, të-thëna, njera-tiatra, dhe fytyra Shqipëtarësh me jetën e tyre, a folkloric collection of 247 pages, printed in the printing house of the Albanian Colony of Bucharest.^[5] On 8 February 1903, Dodani published in Bucharest Trigelhim a Serb' e Zuzarevet ("The villains' ringing in Serbian), a collection of satiric poetry, dedicated to those who didn't want the testament of V.Tarpo (an Albanian expatriate) to come public.^[6] In 1910 he translated and adapted the Il trovatore of Salvadore Cammarano in 5 acts.^[7]

In 1915, Dodani settled in Geneva, Switzerland. He got involved with the Albanian diplomatic efforts there, serving as secretary of the local Albanian National Committee (Alb: Komiteti Kombëtar Shqiptar) led by Turhan Pasha and later by George Adamidi. In Autumn 1919, Dodani moved back to Romania.^[8] He died in Bucharest.

See also

• Albanians in Romania