Biography
Luca Matranga (Arbërisht: Lekë Matrënga; ) was an Italian writer and priest of Arbëresh descent from Sicily.[1] He is regarded as one of the authors of the era of early Albanian literature.
Matranga, who was born and died in Piana degli Albanesi, was the translator of a catechism book entitled E mbsuame e krështerë (English: Christian Doctrine) from Latin to medieval Albanian. The book was published in Rome, Italy in 1592, and has 28 pages. The introduction of the book is in Italian. The book covers issues of the Christian doctrine. An eight-line poem of Matranga is also included in the book.
The importance of the book for Albanian literature remains both in the fact that it is the second major book published in Albanian and that the poem is the first form of poetry in Albanian found yet.
