I rom in Albania e il pregiudizio anti-zigano: Vincenzo Vannutelli O.P. a Scutari nel 1885 e altri scritti tra XIX e XX sec.

Abstract

This paper evaluates the narration by Dominican friar Vincenzo Vannutelli (1841-1900) of a journey to Shkodra occurred in June 1885 (published in 1886) as an early direct witness on local Roma people; the historical romanì presence in Albania; the tolerant attitude of the Albanian majority towards the ethnic minority; the communist assimilation project; the notes of Italian travelers in the first half of XXth century; the value of the episodic and partly prejudicial testimony of the friar visiting Albania in search of the pristine site of the sanctuary of Our Lady of Good Counsel who met the local Roma people describing them according to prevailing racial categories from bibliography and current mentality.