Noli’s arrival on May 10, 1906 in the US, a turning point in the history of the Albanian cause outside the homeland

By Albert Vataj

In the historical calendar of Albanians in exile, there are dates that are not just events, but intersections of destiny. May 10, 1906, the day Fan S. Noli arrived in the United States of America is one of them. Not as an ordinary immigrant, but as a mind -boggled mind and a spirit that required space to illuminate the nation, its arrival would mark the beginning of a new chapter on the Albanian cause abroad – in the heart of the free world, on the eve of a troubled and crucial century for the fate of the nation.

The arrival of Fan S. Noli on May 10, 1906 in the United States of America constitutes a turning point in the history of the Albanian cause abroad. This moment marks the beginning of a new era in the Albanian national activity in the Diaspora, where Noli would become one of the most representative and inspiring figures of the political, cultural and spiritual renaissance of Albanians in the diaspora.

When he arrived in the US in 1906, Noli was still young, but with a spirit formed by reading, ideal, culture and the need to build a free, civilized and emancipated Albania. His deployment in Boston, which would later become the center of the Albanian Diaspora in America, created the basis for a multifaceted activity that combined diplomacy, literature, publicity, religion and national politics.

One of Noli’s most important acts in the US was the foundation of the Autonomous Albanian Orthodox Church, with Mass in Albanian, for the first time, in 1908 in Boston. He was ordained a priest in May of that year at the Russian Orthodox Church in New York. This act was not only religious – it was deeply national: an attempt to give Albanians a national spiritual identity and to detach them from the Greek influences that, through the Church, exerted pressure on assimilation.

In 1909, Noli became one of the co -founders of the newspaper « Dielli », which soon became the most important tribune of Albanians in immigration and the most powerful voice of the Albanian cause in the English -speaking world. Through it, he educated, mobilized and inspired the Albanian diaspora, linking it to the developments of the homeland.

Noli did not see activity in the US as a temporary attitude. He understood the diaspora’s strategic role in the struggle for Albania’s independence. He lobbied to win the support of American circles for the Albanian cause, while in 1913 he participated in the Congress of American Albanians in Boston that supported Ismail Qemali’s government.

In parallel with political and religious activity, Noli also cultivated a deep and rich literary activity: translated Shakespeare, Servantess, Ibsen and many other classics, helping to enrich and form literary Albanian. He called himself « a servant of two masters: nation and language ».

May 10, 1906 is much more than a travel date. It is the day when the vision, mind and spirit of Fan Noli settled in the service of the Albanian cause from another continent – America, which would become the land of the mission and the altar of national commitment.

Fan Noli’s arrival in the US was not just a landing on a new port, but a fundamental act in the modern history of Albanians in the diaspora. It paved the way for an unparalleled patriotic activity that would combine with philosophical thought, religious emancipation, literary translation and political diplomacy. May 10, 1906 is not just a historical memory – it is a moment of national awakening, when a man became a voice, pen and guide of a people seeking his place in history, building a bridge that connected Albania with the world.