Kristo Luarasi

Kristo Luarasi was an Albanian nationalist figure, printer and publisher. He was one of the activists of the Albanian National Awakening. He was one of the first Albanian printers. He was born on 15 December 1876 in Luaras, a village in the region of Kolonjë, in Albania, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. He attended the Albanian school of Hotovë village, where he was taught by Petro Nini Luarasi. After the prohibition of Albanian schools in 1892, he emigrated to Romania, where he studied in the Albanian school established by Nikolla Naço, the leader of the Drita Society and the publisher of the newspaper Shqiptari. He also worked in a printer shop, where he learned the printer profession. He spent a few years there in contact with other Albanian nationalist figures and ideas. In 1896, he moved to Sofia, Bulgaria, where he joined another Albanian emigrant colony. He started as the manager of the printing press Mbrothësia, which was established by the Albanian colony of Sofia, grouped mainly under the Dëshira Society, founded in 1893, with the aim of spreading knowledge and Albanian-language instruction among Albanians, and serving the national cause. He published the Diterëfenjës or Kalendari Kombiar, which appeared annually with some interruptions from 1897 to 1928. He also published the journal Drita, with some financial support from Austria-Hungary, from 1901 to 1908. He used the Istanbul Alphabet of Sami Frashëri until 1908, and then the standard Albanian alphabet that came out of the Congress of Monastir. He published 37 books of Albanian literature, including works by Sami Frashëri, Spiro Dine, Mihal Grameno, Papa Kristo Negovani, and others. He also published the newspaper Liri e Cqiperise, which covered the events of the Albanian Declaration of Independence in 1912. After the Young Turk Revolution, he transferred his printing press to Salonika, where he produced over 60 works within one year. He returned to Albania in 1913, where he continued his publishing activity. He also engaged in politics, being elected as a member of the Albanian parliament in 1921 and 1924. He was a supporter of Fan S. Noli and the June Revolution of 1924. He opposed the regime of Ahmet Zogu and was arrested and exiled several times. He died on 7 July 1934 in Tirana, Albania. He was buried in the public cemetery of Tirana. He is considered one of the most important figures of the Albanian National Awakening and the Albanian culture.