Qiriazi family
A prominent Albanian family of educators, writers, translators, publishers, and public figures associated with the Albanian National Awakening.
Last updated August 31, 2026
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Overview
The Qiriazi family, also rendered Kyrias in some English-language sources, was a prominent Albanian family from Manastir, now Bitola in North Macedonia, whose members played an important role in education, publishing, religious work, and Albanian national cultural activism during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The family is especially associated with Gjerasim Qiriazi, Gjergj Qiriazi, Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako, and Parashqevi Qiriazi. Their work developed during the Albanian National Awakening, a period in which intellectuals and community leaders sought to strengthen Albanian-language education, standardize written Albanian, expand literacy, and articulate a modern Albanian national identity within the Ottoman Empire and its successor political order. The Qiriazis combined religious and educational activity with practical publishing and language work. Gjerasim and Gjergj received training at an American Bible college in Samokov, Bulgaria, and Gjerasim later worked for the British and Foreign Bible Society. He preached in Albanian, prepared educational and grammatical materials, and produced poems, songs, dialogues, sketches, and textbooks. The family’s best-known institutional achievement was the establishment of an Albanian girls’ school in Korça. Following the opening of the first officially recognized Albanian school in the city in 1887, Gjerasim and his sisters Sevasti and Parashqevi secured authorization in Istanbul, with assistance from Naim Frashëri, and opened the school on 15 October 1891. The school provided instruction in Albanian to girls at a time when women’s access to formal education was severely restricted. It encountered strong opposition from elements of the local Greek Orthodox hierarchy, but continued to serve as a landmark in Albanian educational history. After World War I, it remained associated with the family name and became known as the Kyrias School. Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako was the first Albanian woman known to have studied at Istanbul’s Robert College, graduating in 1891. She became a leading advocate of women’s education and later worked with her husband, the writer and journalist Christo Anastas Dako, and her sister Parashqevi in Romania and the United States. Parashqevi also studied at Robert College and became an educator, textbook writer, organizer of children’s and night schools, and advocate for libraries. She published a 1909 elementary-school speller, helped establish the periodical and society Yll’ i mëngjezit in the United States, and represented the Albanian-American community at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. Gjergj Qiriazi participated in the 1908 Congress of Monastir, a major gathering concerned with the Albanian alphabet, and helped establish the newspaper Bashkim’ i Kombit in 1909. He also published religious verse and preserved and issued some of Gjerasim’s writings after his brother’s death. Gjerasim died in 1894 at the age of 36 after suffering pleurisy associated with a period of captivity following a bandit attack in 1884. The Qiriazis are remembered in Albania and other Albanian-populated areas as major contributors to literacy, women’s education, Albanian-language publishing, and cultural emancipation. Sevasti and Parashqevi are often called the Qiriazi sisters and are popularly honored as mothers of Albanian education. Their name has been given to schools and other educational institutions, and the family was commemorated on a Kosovo postage stamp in 2017. The Bank of Albania also announced a commemorative coin featuring Sevasti Qiriazi, planned for release in 2023.
History
The Qiriazi family emerged from Manastir, an important multilingual and commercial center in the Ottoman Balkans, and became associated with the Albanian National Awakening through a combination of education, religious activity, publishing, and public advocacy. The family’s members worked at a time when Albanian-language instruction and printed materials were central to the development of a modern Albanian cultural identity. Gjerasim Qiriazi, born in 1858, first attended a Greek school in Manastir. With support from an English teacher identified in historical accounts as the American missionary Jenney, he studied for four years at an American Bible college in Samokov, Bulgaria. In 1883 he began working in Korça for the British and Foreign Bible Society. His duties and interests brought together Protestant religious activity, translation, literacy, and Albanian-language instruction. He preached in Albanian and worked on a grammar, while also writing poetry, songs, dialogues, sketches, and school texts. Gjerasim’s life was interrupted in November 1884 when he was attacked by bandits while traveling in the mountains southwest of Lake Ohrid. He was held for ransom for approximately six months. His experience was later recounted in an English publication, Captured by Brigands, translated by J. W. Baird of Manastir and published in London in 1902. Gjerasim contracted pleurisy during the period of captivity and died from the illness on 4 January 1894, aged 36. His younger brother Gjergj later helped preserve and publish a selection of his writings. The family’s most enduring institutional contribution began after the officially recognized Albanian school in Korça opened in 1887. Gjerasim and his sisters Sevasti and Parashqevi pursued permission to establish a school for Albanian girls. With assistance from the Albanian intellectual Naim Frashëri, they obtained the necessary authorization in Istanbul. The school opened on 15 October 1891 and moved to a larger building the following summer. It faced sustained opposition from elements of the Greek Orthodox hierarchy, reflecting broader religious and political tensions surrounding Albanian-language education. Despite that opposition, the institution became a foundational center for the education of Albanian women and later remained known by the Kyrias family name. Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako, born in 1871, advanced the family’s educational mission through her own studies and teaching. She studied at Robert College in Istanbul and graduated in June 1891, becoming the first Albanian woman associated with study at that institution. She returned to Albania in time to contribute to the Korça girls’ school. Historical accounts also associate her with an elementary grammar published in Monastir in 1912 and with the editing of history textbooks. After World War I, she worked with her husband Christo Anastas Dako and her sister Parashqevi in Romania and the United States. The group was connected with Yll’ i mëngjezit, a periodical and society serving Albanian-American cultural and educational interests. Parashqevi Qiriazi, born in 1880, likewise studied at Robert College before returning to teach in Albania. Her work extended beyond classroom instruction. She published a speller for elementary schools in 1909, organized children’s education and night schools in southern Albania, and contributed to early efforts to establish libraries. In the United States she helped found the Yll’ i mëngjezit society and worked on its illustrated periodical, published in Boston from 1917 to 1920. She also participated in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 as a representative of the Albanian-American community, linking educational activism with international advocacy for Albanian interests. Gjergj Qiriazi, born in 1868, followed a related path of religious study, publishing, and political-cultural activity. He attended school in Manastir and the American Bible college in Samokov. In 1908 he took part as a delegate in the Congress of Monastir, which is associated with the consolidation of the Albanian alphabet. In 1909 he helped found Bashkim’ i Kombit, or Unity of the Nation, an Albanian-language newspaper. He published Kënkë të shenjtëruara, a collection of religious verse, in Sofia in 1906, and issued Gjerasim’s Hristomathi më katër pjesë in 1902. The family’s later reputation was shaped by the continuing influence of the Korça school and by the symbolic importance of the two sisters. In Albania they are commonly remembered as the Qiriazi sisters and as mothers of Albanian education. Institutions in Albania, Kosovo, and elsewhere in the Balkans have adopted their names. The family was publicly commemorated on a Kosovo postage stamp in 2017, and a later Bank of Albania decision announced a coin honoring Sevasti Qiriazi. Their legacy is therefore institutional as well as biographical: it survives in schools, commemorations, textbooks, and the broader historical narrative of Albanian literacy and women’s emancipation.
- 2022
Bank of Albania announces commemorative coin
[1]The Bank of Albania announced a decision to mint a coin featuring Sevasti Qiriazi, with release planned for 2023.
- 2017
Family appears on Kosovo postage stamp
[1]Kosovo commemorated the four principal Qiriazi siblings on a stamp connected with the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation.
- 1919
Parashqevi participates in the Paris Peace Conference
[1]Parashqevi Qiriazi represented the Albanian-American community at the Paris Peace Conference.
- 1917
Yll’ i mëngjezit begins Boston publication
[1]Parashqevi Qiriazi helped establish the Yll’ i mëngjezit society and its illustrated periodical, issued in Boston from 1917 to 1920.
- 1909
Bashkim’ i Kombit is founded
[1]Gjergj Qiriazi helped establish the Albanian-language newspaper Bashkim’ i Kombit.
- 1908
Gjergj attends the Congress of Monastir
[1]Gjergj Qiriazi participated as a delegate in the Congress of Monastir, associated with the development of a standardized Albanian alphabet.
- 1894
Death of Gjerasim Qiriazi
[1]Gjerasim died on 4 January at age 36 from pleurisy associated with his captivity.
- 1891
Korça Albanian girls’ school opens
[1]On 15 October, Gjerasim, Sevasti, and Parashqevi Qiriazi opened an Albanian girls’ school in Korça after obtaining authorization in Istanbul.
- 1887
Albanian school opens in Korça
[1]The opening of the first officially recognized Albanian school in Korça helped inspire the Qiriazi family’s subsequent girls’ school project.
- 1884
Gjerasim is captured by brigands
[1]On 12 November, Gjerasim Qiriazi was attacked and held for ransom for roughly six months during travel southwest of Lake Ohrid.
Products and positioning
Historical Albanian educational and cultural legacy centered on literacy, women’s education, language development, publishing, and national awakening.
Educational institution · 1891
Korça Albanian girls’ school
Opened on 15 October 1891 by Gjerasim, Sevasti, and Parashqevi Qiriazi, the school provided Albanian-language education for girls in Korça. It became the family’s defining institution and continued to be remembered under the Kyrias name after World War I. Its establishment connected language development, women’s education, and Albanian national cultural activism.
Educational publication · 1902
Hristomathi më katër pjesë
A four-part chrestomathy containing selected writings by Gjerasim Qiriazi. The collection was published in Sofia in 1902 by his brother Gjergj, helping preserve Gjerasim’s literary and pedagogical work after his death.
Religious publication · 1906
Kënkë të shenjtëruara
A collection of religious verse published by Gjergj Qiriazi in Sofia in 1906. It reflects the family’s connection between Protestant religious work, Albanian-language writing, and the broader educational culture of the National Awakening.
Textbook · 1909
Elementary-school speller
A 1909 spelling book attributed to Parashqevi Qiriazi. It was designed for elementary education and formed part of her broader effort to expand Albanian literacy, children’s schooling, and access to practical teaching materials.
Periodical and cultural society · 1917
Yll’ i mëngjezit
An Albanian-American cultural and educational periodical associated with Parashqevi Qiriazi, Sevasti Qiriazi-Dako, and Christo Anastas Dako. Its illustrated issues were published in Boston from 1917 to 1920 and extended the family’s educational and national-cultural work into the diaspora.
Brand decisions
1909
Expansion of Albanian-language publishing and literacy workOtherBackground
The family’s educational mission required accessible Albanian-language materials for children, teachers, and the wider public.
Action taken
Parashqevi published an elementary-school speller, while Gjergj helped establish Bashkim’ i Kombit and continued publishing religious and educational material.
Aftermath
These efforts strengthened the family’s role in Albanian literacy, language development, and national cultural organization.
1891
Establishment of an Albanian girls’ school in KorçaStrategyBackground
The family sought to expand Albanian-language education to girls after the opening of an officially recognized Albanian school in Korça and amid restrictions and opposition affecting Albanian education.
Action taken
Gjerasim, Sevasti, and Parashqevi Qiriazi obtained authorization in Istanbul, with assistance from Naim Frashëri, and opened the school on 15 October 1891. They later moved it to a larger building.
Aftermath
The institution became a landmark of Albanian women’s education and continued to be associated with the Kyrias name after World War I.
Recent events
- 2022
Bank of Albania announces commemorative Sevasti Qiriazi coin[1]
Other
The Bank of Albania made public a decision to mint a commemorative coin bearing Sevasti Qiriazi’s image, with release planned for 2023.
- 2017
Qiriazi family commemorated on Kosovo postage stamp[1]
Other
The Post of Kosovo featured Gjerasim, Gjergj, Sevasti, and Parashqevi Qiriazi on a stamp commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation and highlighting their contributions to education and social emancipation.
- 2017
Qiriazi-named college reported at the site of the former Kyrias Institute[1]
Other
A college bearing the Qiriazi name was reported as opening around 2017 on the property associated with the former Kyrias Institute in Kamëz, Albania.
Sources1 sources
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