Francesco Antonio Santori

Francesco Antonio Santori (Arbërisht: Françesk Anton Santori or Ndon Santori; September 16, 1819 – September 7, 1894) was an Arbëresh writer, poet and playwright. His play Emira is considered to be the first original Albanian drama ever written. The main character is a young and innocent girl who becomes a victim. Albanian literature of that time does not present many female characters like Emira.

Life Santori was born on September 16, 1819, in Santa Caterina Albanese, an Arbëreshë town in the province of Cosenza, modern southern Italy. His plays include Jeroboam, a tragedy of biblical content and Alessio Dukagino a melodrama written between 1855 and 1860, recounting the life of Lekë Dukagjini, an Albanian prince who fought against the Ottoman Empire. Some parts of the play were published originally in the journal Fjamuri Arbërit and later in Jeronim de Rada's Albanian Anthology. In his works he uses his own spelling system without any phonetic accuracy. His political poems contain moralistic motifs describing the central ideas and feelings of the characters of each poem. In several of his poems like Dance of great joy Santori describes folkloric elements of Albanian culture like folk songs and dances.