Culture
Pjetër Bogdani (ca. 1630 - 1689), known in Italian as Pietro Bogdano, is the most original writer of early literature in Albania. He is author of the Cuneus Prophetarum (The Band of the Prophets), 1685, the first prose work of substance written originally in Albania. Born in Gur i Hasit, Has, near Kukës district, Albania about 1630, Bogdani was educated in the traditions of the Catholic Church to which he devoted all his energy. His uncle Andrea or Ndre Bogdani (ca. 1600-1683) was Archbishop of Skopje and author of a Latin-Albanian grammar, now lost.
Culturally, Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia are closely related with Kosovo and Albania. The common flag, the national hymn, the common history, national folk songs, language, etc. are only among some of the factors that prove the close relation between Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia, and those in Kosovo and Albania.
Education in Albanian language is provided in all levels, including university levels, such as State University of Tetovo, South East European University, also in Tetovo.
The spoken dialect of Albanian is mainly Gheg, and Tosk in parts of the south.
The main religion among Albanians in the Republic of Macedonia is Islam, though there are some who are Roman Catholic, with the most prominent member Agnes Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa.
There are also a few Orthodox Christian Albanian villages located in Gostivar, Reka, and scattered in the southeast. They are remnants of a once larger Albanian Orthodox population in the area, and some fear that they will be "assimilated and forgotten".
Read more about this topic: Albanians In The Republic Of Macedonia
Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“There is something terribly wrong with a culture inebriated by noise and gregariousness.”
—George Steiner (b. 1929)
“One of the oddest features of western Christianized culture is its ready acceptance of the myth of the stable family and the happy marriage. We have been taught to accept the myth not as an heroic ideal, something good, brave, and nearly impossible to fulfil, but as the very fibre of normal life. Given most families and most marriages, the belief seems admirable but foolhardy.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“The treatment of African and African American culture in our education was no different from their treatment in Tarzan movies.”
—Ishmael Reed (b. 1938)