Albanian feminist and professor, Urani Rumbo (1895-1936) worked to defend women's rights and notably created one of the first feminist organizations in the country, Lidhja e Gruas (women's union).
A period of change
Daughter of Athana and Spiro Rumbo, Urani Rumbo was born in December 1895 in Stegopul, near Gjirokastër, in southern Albania, which was then integrated into the Ottoman Empire. Her father is a teacher. She has a sister, Emily, and three brothers, Kornil, Thanas and Dhimitër.
Urani grew up during a period of turmoil for Albania. At 19 th century, nationalist ideas spread in the country under Ottoman domination for four centuries; a national consciousness that results in revolts against the Ottoman Empire, but also in the development of culture and a reappropriation of the forbidden Albanian language.
Urani was educated at the school of Filiates (now in Greece), where her father worked as a teacher. There she learned to write and read in both Greek and Albanian, and familiarized herself with the work of Albanian authors. Gifted and precocious, she began teaching Albanian literature herself when she was only fifteen.
Teaching beginnings
Urani Rumbo continued his education in a high school in Ioannina (Greece), but his studies were interrupted by the Balkan wars in 1912 – 1913. While the Ottoman Empire was in full decline, several Balkan states joined forces to roll it back . Albania rose up and, on November 28, 1912, declared its independence. Due in particular to the intertwining of the peoples of the Balkans and the complexity of bringing together populations of the same language, the war continued until the following year.
During this period, Urani studied Italian and French on her own. Subsequently, during the First World War, she taught Albanian literature in Dhoksat and then in Gjirokastër, where she promoted the use of the Albanian language. In 1919, she launched an initiative to fight against female illiteracy and their confinement to domestic work.
Lidhja e Gruas
In 1920, Urani Rumbo opened the Koto Hoxhi school, named after a teacher who secretly taught Albanian to his students when the language was banned, and who ended his life in prison in retaliation. The school is for girls from the Gjirokastër region, and Urani becomes its director. Sensitive to women's rights, she attaches particular importance to the issue of education, which she believes is the key to improving the status and living conditions of women.
The same year, with three other women, Hashibe Harshova, Naxhije Hoxha and Xhemile Balili, Urani founded in Gjirokastër Lidhja e Gruas (the women's union), which will become one of the most important feminist associations in Albania. In the newspaper Drita , one of the first Albanian-language newspapers, they publish a column protesting against the discrimination and strong patriarchal traditions suffered by women.
Feminist activism
In the early 1920s, Urani Rumbo wrote and published articles in several local newspapers, such as Demokratia and Drita; she discusses issues related to women's rights and the obstacles they face, particularly in the field of education. At the same time, she is developing course programs for women, including sewing, embroidery, agriculture, music and gardening.
In 1923, Urani became involved in a campaign aimed at giving girls access, like boys, to Gjirokastër high school. The following year, she founded the feminist organization Përmirësim (“improvement”), which organizes courses for women, regardless of their social status.
In 1930, Urani was accused by the authorities of encouraging young students at the Koto Hoxhi school to perform in plays. Although she rejected these accusations, she was transferred to Vlorë, on the Albanian coast, where she worked until her death in March 1936. She received posthumously, in 1961 (during the communist period), the medal of Mësuese e Popullit (people's teacher).