List of Italians of Albanian descent explained

These are lists of prominent Italo-Albanians, arranged by field of activity.^{[1] [2]}

History and politics

• Francesco Crispi – Italy's Prime Minister from 1887 until 1891, among the main protagonists of the Italian Risorgimento.^{[3] [4] [5]}
• Giorgio Basta – General of Holy Roman Empire^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]}
• Antonio Gramsci – Philosopher, writer, politician and political theorist – founding member and leader of the Communist Party of Italy^{[12] [13]}
• Juan Pedro Aladro Kastriota – Spanish-Arbereshe nobleman, diplomat, and pretender of the throne of Albania
• Giuseppe Salvatore Bellusci – politician.
• Nicola Barbato – Doctor and politician, among the founders of the movement of the Fasci Siciliani Workers.
• Giacomo Vuxani – Italian politician
• Joseph J. DioGuardi – Former US Congressman.
• Stefano Rodotà – Italian Politician.
• Antonio Rodotà – Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), serving from 1997 until 2003
• Victor Hugo Schiro – Two-term mayor (17 July 1961 – 2 May 1970) of New Orleans, Louisiana
• Terenzio Tocci – Politician
• Sal Albanese – Politician
• Richard Caliguiri – politician

Business

• Enrico Cuccia – Banker, founder of Mediobanca and important figure in Italian post-war industrial reconstruction ^[14]
• Nicolas Berggruen – Philanthropist and investor
• Anselmo Lorecchio – Italian lawyer, journalist, politician, poet and writer
• Ercole Lupinacci – Bishop of the Italo-Albanian Church of Eparchy of Lungro.
• Ofelia Giudicissi Curci – Italian poet and archeologist
• Bernardino Vitali - printer

Academics

• Girolamo de Rada – Author and important figure of the Albanian National Awakening^[15]
• Giulio Variboba – Poet
• Giuseppe Serembe – Lyric poet.
• Carmine Abate – Novelist and short story writer.
• Domenico Bellizzi a.k.a. Vorea Ujko – Priest and poet
• Mario Bellizzi – Poet
• Bernardo Bilotta – Priest, poet and folklorist^[16]
• Demetrio Camarda – Byzantine rite priest, Albanian language scholar, historian and philologist
• Nicola Chetta – Byzantine rite priest, ethnographic, writer and poet
• Giuseppe Crispi – Priest and philologist, one of the major figures of the Arbëresh community of Sicily of his time.
• Giuseppe Schirò – Poet, linguist, publicist, folklorist and Albanian patriot, among the most representative figures of the Arbëreshë literature of the 19th century^[17]
• Ernest Koliqi – Writer, poet, playwright and university teacher in Rome.
• Gabriele Dara – Politician and poet, regarded as one of the early writers of the Albanian National Awakening.
• Ernesto Sabato – Argentine painter, physicist, and influential writer of Arbëreshë and Italian ethnicity^[18]
• Giuseppe Schirò Di Maggio – Poet, journalist, essayist, playwright and writer, among the most influential and prolific exponents of contemporary Arbëreshë literature
• Eleuterio Francesco Fortino – Priest of the Italo-Albanian Church in Calabria and writer of the Bizantine and Albanian culture
• Angelo Masci – Writer
• Luca Matranga – Byzantine rite priest, one of the first writers in Albanian
• Francesco Antonio Santori – Writer, playwright and poet of the Albanian National Awakening
• Laura Mersini-Houghton – American cosmologist
• Ferruccio Baffa Trasci – Bishop, theologian and philosopher
• Tom Perrotta – American novelist and screenwriter^{[19] [20]}
• Marco La Piana – Italian scholar of Arbëresh origin
• Maria Antonia Braile – Italian-arbëreshë writer and the first Albanian woman writer to ever publish literature in Albanian
• Francesco Altimari – Italian scholar in the field of Albanology
• Pasquale Scutari – Italian linguist and Albanologist
• Giuseppe Schirò (junior) – Italian scholar and literary historian

Military

• Mercurio Bua – Famed condottiero (stratioti captain) and commander of the Venetian army
• Hadji Alia – Albanian pirate lord^{[21] [22]}
• Theodore Bua – Albanian captain of stradioti regiments of the Republic of Venice
• Demetrio Reres – Calabrian nobleman^[23]
• Graitzas Palaiologos – Commander of the Byzantine garrison
• Gjon Markagjoni – Albanian Catholic clan chieftain
• Khoja Zufar – Captain, governor, merchant and General^{[24] [25]}
• Demetrio Capuzzimati – Stradiot captain in Puglia

Religious

• Pope Clement XI – Pope from 23 November 1700 to his death in 1721.^{[26] [27]} part from the noble Albani family which had established itself in Urbino from northern Albania in the 15th century.^{[28] [29]}
• Sotir Ferrara – Bishop of the Italo-Albanian Church of Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi
• Donato Oliverio – Bishop of the Eparchy of Lungro, a diocese of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in Calabria, Italy
• Giorgio Demetrio Gallaro – Bishop of the Eparchy of Piana degli Albanesi, a diocese of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church in Sicily, Italy
• Nikollë Filja – Arbëreshë Byzantine rite priest, and writer of the 18th century
• Antonio Ciliberti – Roman Catholic archbishop
• Alessandro Albani – Prominent jurist and papal administrator
• Annibale Albani – Italian Cardinal
• Ernest Simoni – Cardinal
• Gian Girolamo Albani – Italian Roman Catholic cardinal
• Gian Francesco Albani – Roman Catholic Cardinal
• Giuseppe Albani – Italian Roman Catholic Cardinal
• Ferruccio Baffa Trasci – Italian bishop, theologian and philosopher
• Eleuterio Francesco Fortino – Italian priest of the Italo-Albanian Catholic Church
• Pietro Parente – Long-serving theologian in the Holy Office of the Roman Catholic Church
• Raffaele Castielli – Italian bishop
• Arberia Parish – Eastern Orthodox Christian parish

Artists

• Marco Basaiti – Renaissance painter^{[30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]}
• Michele Greco da Valona - Albanian painter of the Adriatic Renaissance
• Nik Spatari – Italian painter, sculptor, architect and art scholar
• Ibrahim Kodra – Painter^[36]
• Alborosie - Italian Reggae Ambassador
• Xhovalin Delia - Painter, publicist and film director

Arts and entertainment

• Tito Schipa – Italian tenor^[37]
• Nik Spatari – Italian painter, sculptor, architect and art scholar
• Salvatore Frega - Italian composer of contemporary cultured music and experimental music^[38]
• Anna Oxa – Italian-Albanian singer, actress and television presenter^[39]
• Ermal Meta – Italian-Albanian singer
• Elhaida Dani – Italian-Albanian singer

Sportspeople

• • Giovanni Paramithiotti - founder and first Chairman of FC Inter Milan Igli Tare – Football player
• Emanuele Ndoj – Albanian professional footballer
• Giacomo Vrioni – Italian-Albanian football player
• Andrea Isufaj – Italian football player
• Marash Kumbulla – Italian-born Albanian professional footballer
• Irlian Ceka – Albanian professional footballer
• Kastriot Dermaku – Albanian professional footballer
• Entonjo Elezaj – Italian-Albanian football player
• Ador Gjuci – Italian-Albanian football player
• Alessio Hyseni – Italian-Albanian football player
• Antonio Candreva – Italian footballer
• Ardit Gashi – Italian-Kosovar footballer
• Giuseppe Bellusci – Italian footballer
• Luca Rizzo – Italian professional footballer who plays for Serie A club Bologna.
• Daniel Caligiuri – German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.^[40]
• Marco Caligiuri – German footballer^[40]
• Stefano Fiore – Italian football manager and former player, who played as an attacking midfielder or on the wing
• Federico Zenuni – Albanian professional footballer
• Shaqir Tafa – Albanian professional footballer
• Ismet Sinani – Footballer
• Kleto Gjura – Footballer
• Fabio Sakaj – Footballer
• Alessio Ruçi – Footballer
• Nicola Legrottaglie – Italian retired footballer who played as a central defender, and is the current assistant manager at Cagliari Calcio
• Andrea Tripicchio – Italian professional footballer
• Angelo Ndrecka – Italian-Albanian professional footballer
• Francesco Pianeta – Italian professional boxer
• Antonio Giovinazzi – Italian racing driver
• Luigi Mastrangelo – Italian men's volleyball player
• Andy Parrino – American former professional baseball player^[41]
• Noel Borshi – Albanian swimmer^[42]
• Ornel Gega – Rugby union player^[43]
• Engjel Makelara – Rugby union player^[44]
• Luca Shytaj – Albanian-Italian chess grandmaster and virologist^{[45] [46]}
• Klodeta Gjini – Albanian track and field athlete^[47]
• Abramo Canka – Italian professional basketball player ^{[48] [49]}

Writers

• Irma Kurti

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mbi 500 mijë shqiptarë në Itali. 2014-10-07.
2. Web site: Albanesi in Italia . 2022-01-01. 2023-09-07.
3. Wright, Conflict on the Nile, p. 61
4. Crispi, Francesco, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani – Volume 30 (1984)
5. Gilmour, The Pursuit of Italy
6. Book: The Hero of Italy: Odoardo Farnese, Duke of Parma, His Soldiers, and His Subjects in the Thirty Years' War. Hanlon, G.. 2014. OUP Oxford. 9780199687244.
7. Book: Philosophers of War: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers [2 Volumes]: The Evolution of History's Greatest Military Thinkers. Coetzee, D.. Eysturlid, L.W.. 2013. ABC-CLIO. 9780313070334.
8. Book: A Handbook for Travellers in Southern Italy ... Sixth edition . Murray, J.. Blewitt, O.. Pentland, J.B.. 1868.
9. Book: The Twilight of a Military Tradition: Italian Aristocrats and European Conflicts, 1560–1800. Hanlon, G.. Hanlon, U.R.P.G.. 2008. Taylor & Francis. 9781135361433.
10. Book: The Complete Soldier: Military Books and Military Culture in Early Stuart England, 1603-1645. Lawrence, D.R.. 2009. Brill. 9789004170797.
11. Book: Metamorphosis Transylvaniae. 2014. Taylor & Francis. 9781317856641.
12. Web site: IGSN 9 – Nuove notizie sulla famiglia paterna di Gramsci. www.internationalgramscisociety.org. 15 March 2017.
13. Web site: Italiani di origine albanese che si sono distinti nei secoli Il Torinese Quotidiano on line di Informazione Società Cultura. www.iltorinese.it. 8 January 2016. it-IT. 2018-05-05.
14. Tobias, J. "Sangue sull'altare", p.76
15. Book: Elsie, Robert. Historical Dictionary of Albania. 2010. Rowman & Littlefield. 9780810861886. en.
16. Book: Albanian literature: an outline of prose, poetry, and drama, by Stuart Edward Mann, p.111. Mann. Stuart Edward. 1955.
17. Di Marco & Musco, Aspetti della cultura bizantina ed albanese in Sicilia, p. 85
18. Web site: Familia . 2019-05-13 . 2012-06-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120628091600/http://www.me.gov.ar/efeme/sabato/familia.html . dead .
19. Web site: Tom Perrotta At the end of real life in the new novel of a cult author . Fiamma . Florinda . March 1, 2012 . . September 29, 2013 . My paternal grandparents were Italian immigrants from a village near Avellino. I grew up hearing them and my dad talk Italian. My mother’s relatives were Albanians, but they, too, lived in Italy before emigrating to the States..
20. Shanahan, Mark. "Adaptation: Tom Perrotta is growing accustomed to seeing his books on the big screen", The Boston Globe, 2006-10-18. Retrieved on 2007-07-04.
21. Web site: Neki Lameborshi (Oficer Marine) . Radhime VLORE . N. Lameborshi: Haxhi Alia – Detar I Shquar Ulqinak . Ul-info (in Albanian).
22. Book: Fielding Edwards . Lovett . Introducing Yugoslavia . 1954 . Methuen . . 131 . Volym 18 av Human relations area files: Yugoslavia.
23. Book: Nasse, George Nicholas. The Italo-Albanian Villages of Southern Italy. 10 June 2013. 1964. National Academies. 245. 9780598204004.
24. Kenneth Warren Chase (2003). Firearms: a global history to 1700 (illustrated ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 136. .
25. Web site: An Albanian in Gujarat . Gufarat, Daman, and Diu . en . 23 February 2019.
26. http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2014/09/21/fr_lombardi_papal_journey_a_blessing_for_all_albanians/1107019, ..."a silver portrait of Pope Clement XI – who belonged to the Albani family, so was traditionally of Albanian origin."
27. Web site: Family Tree of Giovanni Francesco Albani . . . geneanet.org . . 26 November 2018 . .
28. Book: Columbus . Knights of . Committee . Catholic Truth . The Catholic Encyclopedia . Herbermann . Charles George . 1913 . Robert Appleton Company . The New York Public Library . 255 . illyricum sacrum albanian. . 12 May 2010.
29. Book: Williams, George L.. Papal Genealogy: The Families and Descendants of the Popes. 2004. McFarland. 9780786420711. 116.
30. Babinger. Franz. L'origine albanese del pittore Marco Basaiti (ca. 1470 – ca. 1530). Atti. Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti, Classe di Scienze Morali e Lettere. 1962. CXX. 497–500.
31. Book: Fabio Maniago (conte di.). Caterina Furlan. Storia delle belle arti friulane. 1999. Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Udine e Pordenone. 18. Veneziano di probabile origine albanese.
32. Book: Pacini. Problemi di morfosintassi dialettale. 1976. Centro di studio per la dialettologia italiana. 6. L'opinione di F. Babinger (*) secondo cui il pittore veneziano Marco Basaiti, il quale operò intorno agli anni 1500–1530, fosse di origine albanese, a mio avviso trova conferma nel fatto che Bazaiti appare ancor oggi come nome di famiglia nella città di Delvina .
33. Book: Preyer, David Charles . The Art of the Vienna Galleries . BiblioBazaar . 2008 . 39 . 978-0-559-69564-3 . Trained in the same school was the Greek Marco Basaiti, from whom we find a smaller replica of the artist's large painting which is now in the Academy at Venice .
34. Web site: Bulletin of the Rhode Island School of Design. google.al. 1913.
35. Book: Ferid Hudhri. Albania Through Art. 2003. Onufri. 978-99927-53-67-5. 15. [The Albanian exiled community] set up there their own school, which they called “Scuola degli Albanesi” (School of the Albanians). Their textbooks were the works of the Albanian Humanists: Marin Beçikemi (1468-1528) and Marin Barleti (1460–1512). The most renowned painters were Marco Basaiti (1496–1530) and Viktor Karpaçi (1465–1525). Some international academics have referred to them and their Albanian descent..
36. Book: Historical Dictionary of Albania. Robert Elsie. 232. 978-0810861886. 19 March 2010. Scarecrow Press. 2. Historical Dictionaries of Europe. 75.
37. Book: Tito Schipa. 25. 2004. 9788882340407. Schipa. Tito.
38. Web site: Official Website. October 17, 2020.
39. http://www.tio.ch/estero/49739/como-anna-oxa-prende-casa-a-sagnino "Como: "Anna Oxa prende casa a Sagnino"
40. Web site: Lojtari i Schalkes me origjinë shqiptare, Panucci i bën ftesën. Schalke player with Albanian origin, Panucci calls him up. Jeta osh qef. Albanian. 22 November 2018. 23 November 2018.
41. News: Heilbrunn. Sharon Annie. Ten Questions with Andy Parrino. September 12, 2012. The San Diego Union-Tribune. April 14, 2012.
42. Web site: Noel Borshi - Swimming - Olympic Athlete | London 2012 . 2012-07-28 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120721130914/http://www.london2012.com/athlete/borshi-noel-1056615/ . 2012-07-21 .
43. Web site: France vs Italy teams: Jacques Brunel names four debutants to start new era as Conor O'Shea waits in the wings. 4 February 2016. The Independent. 5 February 2016.
44. Web site: Italy bring in uncapped hooker Makelara for Wales clash. 2019-02-04.
45. http://www.scacchierando.it/titoli-e-norme/luca-shytaj-grande-maestro/ Luca Shytaj Grande Maestro!
46. https://www.oasport.it/2018/07/scacchi-luca-shytaj-e-diventato-il-14-grande-maestro-italiano2/ Scacchi: Luca Shytaj è diventato il 14° Grande Maestro italiano
47. Web site: Sportishqiptar: Klodeta Gjini, nje jetë për një cm…! June 14, 2013. sportishqiptar.com.al. 2019-04-14.
48. Web site: Rapone . Marco . Penè, scommessa Sharks: "A Roseto per vincere" . . 27 June 2020 . 30 July 2018.
49. Web site: Abramo Penè nuovo innesto in casa Stellazzurra Basketball Academy. In arrivo anche gli altri 2002 Stefano Faloppa e Raffaele Romano . . 27 June 2020 . Italian . 4 August 2016.