Gjerasim Qiriazi
Gjerasim Qiriazi (in English Gerasim Kyrias) (18 October 1858 – 2 January 1894)[1] was an Albanian Protestant preacher, Bible translator and distributor, educator, and activist of the Albanian National Awakening. In the early 1890s he founded the Albanian Evangelical Protestant community and the first Albanian school for girls in Korçë, Albania, then part of the Ottoman Empire.[1]
Reverend Gjerasim Qiriazi Gerasim D. Kyrias | |
|---|---|
| Founder of Albanian Protestant Community | |
 | |
| Church | Albanian Evangelical Brotherhood (Protestant) |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 19-20 April 1890 by American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions |
| Consecration | by John Henry House, Alexander Thomson, et. al. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 18, 1858 |
| Died | 2 January 1894 (aged 35) Monastir |
| Buried | Protestant Cemetery, Monastir |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Denomination | Evangelical Protestant |
| Spouse | Athina Mikelidhi |
| Children | Stefan Kyrias |
| Occupation | Preacher, educator |
| Alma mater | Collegiate and Theological Institute (Samokov, Bulgaria) |
| Signature |  |
Gjerasim Qiriazi | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Gerasim D. Kyrias Gerasimos Kyrias |
| Employer(s) | British and Foreign Bible Society, Turkish Missions Aid Society |
| Organization | Vëllazëria e Ungjillorëvet |
| Notable work | Kënkëtore: Hymna per nde Falëtorët të Ungjillorëvet (1893); Captured by Brigands (1901); Krestomaci (1902, 1907) |
| Movement | Protestantism Albanian National Awakening |
| Relatives | Brother of: Sevasti Qiriazi, Gjergj Qiriazi, and Parashqevi Qiriazi[1][2] |
| Awards |  Honor of the Nation People's Teacher.png.webp){kind=small} Order of Freedom, Class I |
Biography
Qiriazi attended a Greek school of his native Manastir, Macedonia. He then went to Samokov, Bulgaria, to attend the Collegiate and Theological Institute. After he finished his studies, in 1883, he started to work for the British and Foreign Bible Society in Korçë.
On November 15, 1884, while traveling to Lake Ohrid, he was kidnapped by bandits, who held him for ransom for over a year. This episode was narrated by Gjerasim in Captured by Brigands and published after his death in English in 1901.[1][3]
In 1889, he commissioned the printing of the book of Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew in Albanian Tosk, and the Gospel of Matthew in Aromanian, which were printed by "Dituria" in Bucharest on behalf of BFBS.
In 1891, the first Albanian school for girls in Korçë was founded by Qiriazi[4] and his sister, Sevasti Qiriazi. He also had a younger sister, Parashqevi Qiriazi, who started to work at the girls' school (Albanian: Shkolla e vashave) when she was only 11.[1][5]
He died at an early age from tuberculosis.[6]
Works
In addition to Captured by Brigands, Qiriazi wrote an Albanian language grammar, poetry, songs and school books. A selection of his writings was published by his brother, Gjergj, in the collection Hristomathi a udhëheqës për ç'do shtëpi shqiptari (Monastir, 1902). Both brothers co-wrote the song collection Kënkë të shenjtëruara (Monastir, 1906).
Published works
- “Captured by Brigands: an Albanian Experience”, The Sunday Home Family Magazine for Sabbath Reading (London: Religious Tract Society, 1893–1894), pp. 277–280, 310–212, 344–347, 357–359, 379–381, 401–404, 428–430, 444–445, 459–461, 493–494, 551–553, 568–571, 590–591, 605–607, 619–620, 667–669.
- Captured by Brigands. London: Religious Tract Society, 1901 (repub. 2016, IAPS, ISBN 9780993424885). Albanian versions: Pengu i kaçakëve (trans. Edmond Seferi). Tiranë: Kartë e Pendë, 1993; Tiranë: Vernon, 2016 (ISBN 978-9928-104-59-5).
- Kënkëtore: Hymna për ndë Falëtoret të Ungjillorëvet (hectograph). Korçë: 1893.
- Mësime të vëjyerë a fjalë shpirtërishte, të folura në mësonjëtoret shqipe të çupavet ndë Korçë (predikime). Kostandinopojë: A.H. Bojaxhiani, 1896. Republished 2017 (Tirana: ISSHP) as Mësime të vyera (ed. Teuta Toska) (ISBN 978-9928-104-69-4).
- Hristomathi më katër pjesë: gjëra të ndryshme e të vëgjejtura për këndim edhe për dobi të mësonjëtorevet shqipe, a udhëheqës për ç’do shtëpi shqipëtari, të gatuara edhe një pjesë nga dialogët të kthyera, prej një mëmëdhetari (edited and expanded by Gjergj Qiriazi). Sofia: Mbrothësia, 1902 (vol. 1) and 1907 (vol. 2) (posthumous publication). Republished 2023 (Tirana: ISSHP) as Krestomaci: udhëheqës për çdo shtëpi shqiptari (ISBN 978-9928-4519-1-0 and ISBN 978-9928-4519-2-7).
- Katiqism i vogël, me prova nga Shkresa e Shenjtëruarë (translation of the Westminster Shorter Catechism with the Apostles' Creed). Manastir: Shtypëshkronja “Tregtare Nërkombëtare”, 1912 (posthumous publication).
Legacy
In the Evangelical Protestant community
When Gjerasim Qiriazi founded an Evangelical Brotherhood in 1891 for Albanians, Albanian-inhabited territories were still under Ottoman rule. Now that Albania and Kosovo are sovereign states, Protestant communities there, such as the Evangelical Brotherhood of Albania (VUSH), the Kosovo Protestant Evangelical Church (KPUK) (founded in 1992 and 2005 respectively)—and other Albanian Evangelical entities—regard Gjerasim Qiriazi as their spiritual founder.
Cinema
The Korça School for Girls was immortalized in Albanian cinema by the beloved film Mësonjëtorja (The School) (1979). The character inspired by Gjerasim Qiriazi was "Stefan Bardhi" and was played by actor Gulielm Radoja. Consistent with the official atheistic and censorial policies of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania, all religion was portrayed as anti-Albanian and the school was identified as completely non-religious (laike).[7]
Commemorative items
- In 2017 Gjerasim Qiriazi's image was among those featured on a postage stamp by the Post of Kosovo in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and its Albanian counterpart.[8]
In academia
- On 26 October 2016 the University of Korça hosted an academic conference honoring Gjerasim and Sevasti Qiriazi and the Girls School on the 125th anniversary of its founding.[9]
- On 14–16 January 1994 in Tirana, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Gjerasim Qiriazi's death, the Evangelical Brotherhood of Albania, in cooperation with Albania's State Archives and the League of Writers, sponsored an academic symposium with ten Albanian and foreign guest speakers (professors and institutional representatives).[10]
Namesake schools, institutions, etc.
- The GDQ International Christian School in Tirana.
- In Tirana there is a road named "Rr. Gjerasim Qirjazi" [sic].[11]
- In 2023 the government of North Macedonia approved the establishment of a regional department of the Institute of Spiritual and Cultural Heritage of the Albanians in Monastir, which will be named after the Qiriazi family.[12]
Awards
- Mësuesi i Popullit (Teacher of the People) (Albania), 1987.
- Urdhri i Lirisë i Klasit të Parë (First Class Order of Freedom) (Albania), 1992.
- Nderi i Kombit (Honor of the Nation) (Albania), (2017).
References
- Elsie, Robert (2001). A dictionary of Albanian religion, mythology, and folk culture. Library of Congress: New York University Press. pp. 210–212. ISBN 0-8147-2214-8. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako. Jeta ime (Shkup: ITSHKSH, 2016), p. 327–330
- Kyrias, Gerasimas (1901). Captured by brigands. Religious Tract Society.
- Skendi, Stavro (1967). The Albanian national awakening. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9781400847761.
- de Haan, Francisca; Daskalova Krasimira; Loutfi Anna (June 30, 2006). A Biographical Dictionary of Women's Movements and Feminisms in Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe, 19th and 20th Centuries. Central European University Press. pp. 454–457. ISBN 978-9637326394. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
- Baird, John. “Rev. Gerasim D. Kyrias”, Missionary News from Bulgaria, 19 March 1894, nr. 49, p. 7–8.
- Asllani, Persida; Hosaflook, David (2017). The Albanian Book and Protestant Enterprise: a 200-year Cultural Journey. Tirana: National Library of Albania and IAPS. pp. 160–161. ISBN 978-9928-4202-7-5.
- "Promovohet pulla postare "500 vjet reformacion"". 22 October 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- "ITSHKSH bashkëorganizuese e simpoziumit në Korçë". ITSHKSH. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ISSHP Archives, B03-F02 "Vëllazëria Ungjillore e Shqipërisë (VUSH)"
- "Rruga Gjerasim Qirjazi · Tirana, Albania".
- "ITSHKSH-së i shtohen edhe gjashtë Departamente rajonale të trashëgimisë kulturore" (in Albanian). 21 March 2023. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
Further reading
- Quanrud, John, Gerasim Kyrias and the Albanian National Awakening 1858-1894, Institute for Albanian and Protestant Studies, 2016, ISBN 9780993424823.
- Hosaflook, David. Lëvizja Protestante te shqiptarët, 1816–1908. Skopje: Instituti i Trashëgimisë Shpirtërore e Kulturore të Shqiptarëve, 2019, ISBN 978-608-4897-08-8.
- Kyrias-Dako, Sevasti. My Life: The autobiography of the pioneer of female education in Albania. Tiranë: IAPS, 2022, ISBN 978-1-946244-43-7.
- Hosaflook, David, Persida Asllani etc. The Albanian Book and Protestant Enterprise: a 200-year Cultural Journey (Kolana “Rrugëtime kulturore: libri dhe feja në shqipëri”). Tiranë: Biblioteka Kombëtare e Shqipërisë, 2017, ISBN 978-9928-4202-8-2.