At the Roots of the Arbëresh Word

Biography

Born in Civita (Cosenza) on 29 March 1947 from Arbëresh parents, Vincenzo Bruno graduated in Classical Literature in Naples in 1969 and devoted his entire professional life to teaching, first in middle schools and later in scientific and classical high schools. Alongside the teaching of classical subjects, he promoted numerous educational projects dedicated to theatre, journalism, and environmental education, distinguishing himself through a dynamic and innovative pedagogical approach. Married to Caterina Candelise, herself a teacher of literary subjects, he’s the father of three children; the youngest, Francesco Pio, tragically passed away in 2006.

Deeply connected to Arbëresh culture, he has dedicated much of his intellectual activity to the study and promotion of the Italo-Albanian linguistic minority. He’s among the founders of the journal Katundi Ynë, established in 1970 and over time becoming the longest-running and most representative periodical of the Arbëria community. As co-editor, he played a decisive role in shaping the journal’s cultural direction, publishing essays on history, cultural policy, education, literature, and criticism, while fostering a shared sense of identity among Arbëresh communities in Italy.

He actively contributed to the design and creation of the Arbëresh Ethnographic Museum of Civita, inaugurated in 1989 and later renewed in 2015 with the addition of multimedia tools, as well as a specialised library and newspaper archive. His commitment has also taken shape through conferences, seminars, and cultural initiatives dedicated to the protection and promotion of the Arbëresh minority, helping to strengthen its visibility and support the rediscovery of local identity, also in relation to tourism and territorial development.

Particularly significant has been his work in teaching the Arbëresh language, experimented with in schools through bilingual texts, theatrical dramatisations, original fables, and structured exercises designed to encourage the learning of a language traditionally rooted in oral transmission. Theatre expecially became a privileged tool for linguistic and cultural revitalisation, involving students, young people, and adults alike.

As prolific author, he has written numerous theatrical works in both Italian and Arbëresh, bilingual comedies, a historical drama, as well as novels, collections of short stories, poems, fables, and narratives often set in his native village. He has also edited a three-volume historical monograph on Civita and compiled an extensive collection of popular anecdotes, alongside works dedicated to environmental research and cultural dissemination.

Overall, his work as a teacher, writer, and cultural activist has been entirely devoted to the protection, transmission, and growth of Arbëresh language and culture in Calabria and throughout Italy, with the aim of ensuring continuity and vitality for a historic minority rich in traditions and deeply integrated within the national context.

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Motivation Prize

​Premio Ostana 2026 is awarded to a multifaceted figure: teacher, writer, and playwright.

Vincenzo Bruno has devoted his entire life to understanding, deepening, and promoting Arbëresh language and culture, gathering and preserving a rich tradition transmitted almost exclusively through oral forms, renewing literary language with an original voice, and contributing to culture and literature across multiple literary genres.

Bruno follows in the path of the many Arbëresh writers and poets who, within small communities, have kept their language and culture alive and who, throughout the centuries, have often represented vital centres of cultural creation, making fundamental contributions both to the culture of their ancestral homeland, Albania, and to Italian culture.

His works stand out for their structure, psychological depth, originality, literary quality, and their ability to address difficult themes without rhetoric — qualities that give them exceptional literary and educational value.

Premio Ostana 2026 for Historical Linguistic Minorities in Italy intends to recognise the richness and significance of Vincenzo Bruno’s literary and human journey, while also expressing the hope that for many years to come he may continue his work in support and promotion of Arbëresh language and culture.