Girolamo de Rada

Girolamo de Rada (Arbërisht: Jeronim de Rada; 29 November 181428 February 1903) was an Arbëreshë folklorist, journalist, lawyer, playwright, poet, rilindas and writer. He is regarded as one of the most influential Albanian writers of the 19th century who played an essential role in the Albanian Renaissance.

Politics

In 1881, De Rada's views on Albania's future envisaged a country split into three units based on religion within a federal state. By 1886, De Rada opposed proposals by the Greeks of a Balkan federation and supported remaining separate from Greece as any unification according to him would entail the end of Albanian existence. De Rada maintained a policy of siding with the Ottomans against common enemies and disapproving of anti-Ottoman insurrection viewing it as Greek and Serb foreign influence with the hope that the Ottoman Empire would grant Albanians their socio-political rights.

In October 1895, De Rada, along with fellow Italo-Albanians Giuseppe Schirò and Anselmo Lorecchio, organised a congress on Albanian national, cultural and linguistic self-determination that convened in Corigliano Calabro. It was followed by a second congress in Lungro during February 1897.