Panayotis Koupitoris

Panayotis Koupitoris (Greek: Παναγιώτης Κουπιτώρης, Arvanitika: Panajot Kupitori, 1821-1881) was an Arvanite writer from the island of Hydra.

Koupitoris studied literature at the University of Athens and was later principal of several secondary schools. He also organized a night school that taught in Arvanitika. In 1879 Koupitoris purchased a printing press and, along with Anastas Kullurioti, started the publication of the newspaper The Voice of Albania (Albanian: Zëri i Shqipërisë),

Koupitoris is the author of the Greek-language Meletai peri tis glossis kai tou ethnous Alvanias ("Studies on the Albanian language and people"), published in Athens in 1879. He is also said to have published a primer of Albanian in 1879, and wrote an etymological Albanian dictionary, as yet unpublished.

Panayotis Koupitoris was a lifelong studier of the Albanian origin and language. In his book "Αλβανικαί Μελέται ‐ Πραγματεία ιστορική και φιλολογική περί της γλώσσης και του έθνους των Αλβανών" (English: Albanian Studies - An historical and literary essay about the Albanian nation and his language) in where he presents the core elements of his beliefs, after analyzing historically and literary the Albanian entity, concludes about the Albanian language that "αναγκάζεται τις να κατατάξη αυτήν εις τον ελληνολατινικόν κλάδον και να ομολογήση ότι της αλβανικής γλώσσης το πλείστον μέρος εστίν ελληνικόν, πολύ δε και το λατινικόν, σμικρόν δε τι μέρος το γερμανικόν και ελάχιστον το κελτικόν" (we have to classify it to the Greeklatin (linguistic) sector and to confess that the Albanian language is: mostly Greek, enough Latin, a little Germanic and at the minimum Celtic), p. 35. About the origin of the Illyrians and their language which he believes they were a relative to the Albanian, nation, he concludes: "Eκ των παρατεθειμένων συμπεραίνεται νομίζω ότι η ιλλυρική γλώσσα ην ουχί αλλότρια της ελληνικής, αλλά διάλεκτος αυτής απωτέρα των άλλων και οι Ιλλυριοί ελληνικόν φύλον." (From the above mentioned we can conclude that the Illyrian is not a foreign to the Greek language, but a dialect of this, farthest from others, and the Illyrians a Greek subgroup." (p.49).

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