Stavro Skëndi was an Albanian American linguist and historian.

Career

Skëndi studied at Robert College

Robert College

Robert College of Istanbul , is one of the most selective independent private high schools in Turkey. Robert College is a co-educational, boarding school with a wooded campus on the European side of Istanbul between the two bridges on the Bosphorus, with the Arnavutköy district to the east, and...

 in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, graduating in 1928. He continued his studies at the University of Geneva

University of Geneva

The University of Geneva is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland.It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin, as a theological seminary and law school. It remained focused on theology until the 17th century, when it became a center for Enlightenment scholarship. In 1873, it...

 and returned to Albania

Albania

Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

, where he taught in Commerce schools. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 he fought on the side of the Albanian National Front

Balli Kombëtar

Balli Kombëtar was an Albanian nationalist, anti-communist and anti-monarchy organization established in October 1939. It was led by Ali Këlcyra and Mit’hat Frashëri...

. In 1946, he emigrated to the U.S. He enrolled at Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 as a Ph.D. candidate, graduating in 1951. He joined the faculty as a lecturer in a program on East-Central Europe, specializing in Balkan language studies. He succeeded Nelo Drizari as lecturer and taught courses in Albanian

Albanian language

Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...

 and South Slavic

Serbo-Croatian language

Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat, less commonly Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian , is a South Slavic language with multiple standards and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro...

 at Columbia from 1954 until his retirement in 1972. Throughout this period, he cultivated his interest in Albanian studies, writing and publishing frequently.

Skëndi was a Guggenheim Fellow and a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study

Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...

 in Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton, New Jersey

Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...

.

Selected works

• Gjendja e Shqiperise sot dhe detyra e Shqiptarvet. (The situation of Albania today and the duty of the Albanians.) Konference e dhene ne Detroit, me 19 prill, 1953. Detroit 1953.
• Albanian political thought and revolutionary activity, 1881–1912. München 1954.
• Albanian and South Slavic oral epic poetry. American Folklore Society, Philadelphia 1954.
• The political evolution of Albania, 1912-1944. Mid-European Studies Center, New York 1954.
• Albania. (With Mehmet Beqiraj, George Bossy, Robert F. Byrnes.) Atlantic Pr., London 1957.
• Mendimi politik dhe veprimtarija kryengritese shqiptare, 1881–1912. (Political opinion and the activities of the Albanian uprising, 1881–1912) New York 1958.
• The history of the Albanian alphabet: a case of complex cultural and political development. R. Oldenbourg, München 1960.
• The emergence of the modern Balkan literary languages: a comparative approach. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1964.
• Crypto-Christianity in the Balkan area under the Ottomans. American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, 1967.
• The Albanian national awakening, 1878-1912. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J. 1967.
• Kačić's "Razgovor" and Fishta's "Lahuta e Malcís". Wiesbaden 1968.
• Language as a factor of national identity in the Balkans of the nineteenth century. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia 1975.
• Balkan cultural studies. East European Monographs, Boulder, [Colo.]; distributed by Columbia University Press, New York 1980.
• Zgjimi kombëtar shqiptar: 1878-1912. (The awakening of the Albanian nation: 1878-1912.) Tirana/Phoenix 2000.