Giulio VARIBOBA
BIOGRAPHY
Giulio Variboba (1724-1788), known in Albanian as Jul Variboba,
is the first Arbëresh poet of real talent and is regarded
by many Albanians as the first genuine poet in all of Albanian
literature.
Variboba was born in San Giorgio Albanese (Alb. Mbuzati)
in the province of Cosenza to a family originally from the Mallakastra
region of southern Albania. He studied at the Corsini seminary
in San Benedetto Ullano, a centre of learning and training for
the Byzantine Greek priesthood. This seminary, founded in 1732
by Pope Clement XII, had an impact on the cultural advancement
of the Arbëresh of Calabria in the eighteenth century similar
to that of the Greek seminary of Palermo for the Arbëresh
of Sicily. Variboba, one of its first students, was ordained
as a priest in 1749 and returned to his native San Giorgio to
assist his elderly father Giovanni, archpriest of the parish.
Even during his studies at the Corsini seminary, Variboba had
shown a definite preference for the Latin (Catholic) rite over
the traditional Byzantine Greek rite in the Arbëresh church.
In later years, his polemic support for a transition to the Latin
rite made him quite unpopular with both his parish and with the
local church hierarchy in Rossano, in particular after his direct
appeal to the Pope. He was eventually forced into exile, initially
to Campania and Naples, and in 1761 settled in Rome where he
spent the rest of his days.
Despite the turmoil of these years, Variboba must have known
moments of tranquillity, too, for it was soon after his arrival
in Rome that his long lyric poem Ghiella e Shën Mëriis
Virghiër, Rome 1762 (The life of the Virgin Mary), was
published, the only Arbëresh book printed in the eighteenth
century. This loosely-structured poem of 4,717 lines, written
entirely in the dialect of San Giorgio Albanese and loaded with
much Calabrian Italian vocabulary, is devoted to the life of
the Virgin Mary from her birth to the Assumption. Though from
the poet’s own life history and his uncompromising and polemic
attitude to church rites, one might be led to expect verse of
intense spiritual contemplation, the Ghiella evinces more
of a light-hearted, earthy ballad tone, using Variboba’s
native Calabria as a background for the nativity and transforming
the devout characters of the New Testament into hearty eighteenth-century
Calabrian peasants. Variboba is unique in early Albanian literature,
both in his clear and simple poetic sensitivities and in the
variety of his rhythmic expression, though the quality of his
verse does vary considerably. The strength of ‘The life
of the Virgin Mary,’ interspersed as it is with folk songs,
lies indeed in its realistic and down-to-earth style, often pervaded
with humour and naivety, and in the fresh local colour of its
imagery. |
Albanian Literature in Translation
Early
Authors (16th - 18th centuries)
