Bardi, Frang

Frang Bardi was born in 1606 in the north of Albania, in the village of Kallmet, in the historical region of Zadrim , near the city of Lezha . He came from a high-ranking Albanian family who had citizenship of the Venetian Republic . All his life, Frang Bardi was proud and emphasized that he belonged to a family whose members did not submit to the Ottoman invaders.

Bardi studied theology in Italy. Pope Urban VIII December 17, 1636 appointed him bishop of the diocese of Sapa and Sarda.

In 1635, Frang Bardi published in Rome the first ever Albanian dictionary, Dictionarium latino-epiroticum , consisting of 5640 articles. He also wrote a biography of George Skanderbeg , in which he polemicized with the version about the Slavic (Bosnian) origin of Skanderbeg, put forward in 1631 by the Croatian Catholic priest Ivan Tomko Mrnavić.

In 1637, Frang Bardi provided the Congregation of Faith with a description of his diocese, which is today a valuable historical document about the life of Albanian society during the Ottoman expansion.

• Georgius Castriotus Epirensis, vulgo Scanderbegh. Per Franciscum Blancum, De Alumnis Collegij de Propaganda Fide Episcopum Sappatensem etc. Venetiis, Typis Marci Ginammi, MDCXXXVI (1636).
• Dictionarivm Latino Epiroticvm per RD Franciscvm Blanchvm

• Robert Elsie: Albanian Literature. An Overview of its History and Development. In Österreichische Osthefte 17 (2003), Sonderband Albanien. p. 243—276
• Zija Xholi: Pesë mendimtarët më të vjetër të kulturës sonë kombëtare: M. Barleti, Gj. Buzuku, P. Budi, F. Bardhi, P. Bogdani. Tirana 2003. ISBN 99927-901-1-3
• Albanian Literature , Section 1.6, by Robert Elsie, pp. 24-27