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Shaban Demiraj | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 30 August 2014 | (aged 94)
Citizenship | Albanian |
Occupation(s) | Linguist, Albanologist |
Shaban Demiraj (1 January 1920 – 30 August 2014) was an Albanian albanologist, linguist, professor at the University of Tirana from 1972–1990, [1] and chairman of the Academy of Sciences of Albania during the period of 1993–1997. [2] [3] [4]
Demiraj was born on 1 January 1920 in
Vlorë.
[5] Despite financial difficulties and the lack of academic institutions in Albania, he managed to study and learn
Latin,
ancient Greek, and the major European languages.
[1] After finishing the
Madrasa in
Tirana in 1939, he studied
Albanian language in the two-year curriculum Pedagogical Institute, branch of Albanian language and literature (1946–1948), and later in the High Pedagogical Institute (1954–1955). During 1948–1954 he worked as language and literature teacher in various high schools in
Gjirokastër and Tirana. In 1954, he started working as a lector in the same High Pedagogical Institute from where he graduated, and later in the University of Tirana (UT), holding that position until 1990. During 1962–1989, he was in charge of the Albanian language chair, and in the period 1962–1966 he served as deputy
dean of the Faculty of History and
Philology of the UT.
[6]
His areas of expertise were: the
morphology of modern Albanian, Albanian historical
grammar, the history of the Albanian writing (18th–19th centuries), and a special course on
Balkan linguistics.
[6] In 1989 he became member of the
Albanian Academy of Sciences, and was its chairman during 1993–97.
[7]
Beside his research publications, Demiraj also published many scientific articles inside Albania and abroad on topics as history of the Albanian language, grammar and
phonetics, and
Balkanology. He has transcribed and adapted the work of
Gabriele Dara Kënga e sprasme e Balës (The last song of Bala) in 1994. He also worked as a translator, having produced the Albanian edition of
Martin Eden, a novel by
Jack London, in 1959.
[6]
Demiraj was part of the committee that organized the
Orthography Congress of 1972,
Albanian: Kongresi i Drejtshkrimit, where the orthographic rules of the Albanian language were standardized, and he was also a signatory to the orthography.
[8]
He is the father of linguist Bardhyl Demiraj. [5]
Some of his main works include: [6]