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The moving encyclopedia of the Arbëresh and Arvanite world!

2025-06-21 11:26:53Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA DORIAN KOçI
Father Antonio Bellusci

On the first anniversary of his passing.

A year ago, in 2024, one of the most prominent figures in the Arbëresh and Arvanite world passed away: Father Antonio Bellusci .

With his departure, Albanian culture lost one of the deepest connoisseurs of the identity and ethnographic heritage of Albanian communities in the historical diaspora.

But his death did not mark an end; on the contrary, it transformed his figure into a lasting source of light for the entire Albanian nation.

Father Antonio Bellusci was more than a scholar, more than a priest, and more than an Arbëresh.

He was a moving encyclopedia of the culture, history, and spirit of the Arbëresh and Arvanite communities.

During his life dedicated to researching, documenting, and preserving Albanian identity outside the political borders of Albania, he built a rich and invaluable body of work, which today serves as a foundation for understanding our national being in its many dimensions.

In 2018, during the National Year of Gjergj Kastrioti Skanderbeg, I had the honor and pleasure of institutionally honoring the figure of Father Bellusci at the National History Museum, presenting his complete work as well as a documentary on his extraordinary life.

That evening was not simply a tribute to a remarkable individual, but a moment of enlightenment for a legacy that has for too long been treated on the periphery of our national history.

On that occasion, the Albanian public had the opportunity to meet one of the most authentic voices of the Arbëresh identity, a man who not only deeply knew this identity, but had done everything to preserve it and share it with the world.

Father Antonio Bellusci was born and lived in Frascineto, one of the most important Arbëresh centers in Calabria.

Early on he became involved in church life, but his true mission became the documentation and protection of the spiritual, linguistic and cultural heritage of his community. The uniqueness of Father Bellusci's work was that he did not see tradition as a relic of the past, but as a living element that needed to be translated into the language of today and tomorrow.

At a time when globalization threatens to flatten and eliminate cultural differences, Father Bellusci raised his voice for the existence of an invisible people: the Arvanites and the Arbëresh.

In his most famous work "Gli Arberori-Arvaniti un popolo invisibile", he documents with particular sensitivity the history, life, songs and customs of this people who survived for centuries outside their homeland, but with their hearts always connected to it. Among his most important publications we can mention:

“Ricerche e studi tra gli Arberori dell'Ellade” – A monumental work that explores the Albanian presence in Greece, especially the Arvanite communities, bringing together documents, oral testimonies and historical analyses that shed light on a little-known aspect of the Albanian world in the diaspora.

This work is important not only for the history of the Arvanites, but also for the very way in which a collective identity is built through memory and language.
“Gli Arberori-Arvaniti: un popolo invisibile” – The book that made him internationally known.

With this publication, Father Bellusci sought to make visible an entire people who had survived without a voice in official historiographies, both in Albania and in modern Italy and Greece.

"Arbëresh Anthology - Oral Prose and Poetry" - An extraordinary collection of the oral heritage of Arbëresh communities, where the reader encounters a rare wealth of idioms, tales, songs, and discourses that are not found in official texts.

With this book, Father Bellusci proves that the literature of a nation is not born only in academia, but also in villages, songs, and folk beliefs.

One of the most significant dimensions of Father Bellusci's life and work is his dedication to the spiritual and cultural connection of the historical diaspora with the motherland.

He was a bridge between generations and between territories that history had divided but language and blood had bound forever.

The Arbëresh language, which he considered a precious asset, was for him a form of resistance to assimilation and a way to preserve collective memory.
In all his writings, Father Bellusci emphasized the need for recognition and institutional protection of these communities that, although outside state borders, are an integral part of the Albanian soul.

He saw his mission as part of a larger mission: the revival of national consciousness in a comprehensive form, one that does not exclude but unites.

Today, one year after his passing, the figure of Father Antonio Bellusci remains not only a memory, but a call to all of us.

He taught us that identity is not just a biological fact, but a choice and a commitment. He taught us that we must love our history, not only when it is heroic, but also when it is invisible, like the history of the Arvanites and Arbëresh.

At a time when we risk losing touch with our roots, the figure of Father Bellusci invites us to return to ourselves, to delve into memory, to preserve language and customs, and above all – not to forget those who illuminated our paths with sacrifice and love.

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