The University of Calabria recently welcomed the President of the Republic of Albania, Bajram Begaj, during his official visit to the region. The meeting highlighted the deep-rooted cultural and historical ties between the Albanian people and the Arbëreshë communities in Italy—an important focus of the university’s academic and cultural mission.
President Begaj was greeted by Rector Nicola Leone and Professor Francesco Altimari, a leading scholar of Albanian language and literature. During his visit to the university’s Albanology Section, hosted in the Humanities Library, he had the opportunity to see rare archival materials, including over 100 albanological titles and a collection of 285 digitized graduate and doctoral theses.
The visit also showcased the university's broader outreach activities, such as the didactic text Arbërisht? Pse jo?, recently reprinted with the support of local Arbëreshë companies, and the transnational “Moti i Madh” project, which promotes the recognition of Arbëreshë spring rites as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Professor Altimari also outlined ambitious new initiatives, including a multimedia linguistic atlas and a comprehensive digital dictionary of the Arbëreshë dialects involving scholars and young researchers from across southern Italy.