Zarishi was born on February 16, 1806, in Blinisht, a village in Zadrima, back then part of Ottoman Empire.[5] He was educated at the training college of the Propaganda Fide.[6] He was first appointed as a secretary of the Italian bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sapë in Nënshat,[1] in the Shkoder Archdiocese who was transferred to Orosh and appointed as abbot[7] of the remote Abbey of Orosh after one disagreement with bishop of Sapa.[8] Zarishi and Dotmaze from Shkoder were assistants of Karlo Krasnik, a Catholic priest.[9] In Orosh Zarishi initially maintained a close cooperation with local Mirdite leaders and particularly with Dod Bib Pasha.[10]
When Ilija Garašanin, through Krasnik, approached to Dod Bib Pasha to propose to Mirdita to join anti-Ottoman revolt, the Pasha accepted to ally with Serbia in exchange for the autonomy of his tribe and freedom to keep their Catholic faith within Serbian state.[11][12] On the other hand, Zarishi and Dotmaze were opposed to participation of Mirdite tribe in the uprising against Ottomans because they believed it would not be effective.[13]
Because of the conflict with some Mirdita chieftains, he was forced to leave Orosh and to settle in Kallmet where he died in 1866.[1][14] His pupil Petar Draguša later wrote that Zarishi was so good an orator that more than once listeners of his speeches broke down crying.[14]
References
^ abcStuart Edward Mann (1955). Albanian literature: an outline of prose, poetry, and drama. B. Quaritch. p. 64. Retrieved 26 September 2013. poet Dom Pjeter Xarishi (or Zarishi) For a time Xarishi was secretary to the Bishop of Nenshati, but later became Abbot of Mirdita, and died at Kallmeti at an unknown date.
^Elsie, Robert (2010). Historical dictionary of Albania. UK: The Scarecrow Press Inc. p. 176. ISBN978-0-8108-6188-6. Retrieved 25 August 2011. tradition of 19th-century Catholic literature in Albania established by Zadrima abbot Pjetër Zarishi(1806–1866),
^Giuseppe Schirò (1959). Storia della letteratura albanese (in Italian). Nuova accademia. p. 114. Retrieved 26 September 2013. Pieter Zarishi nacque a Blinishti nella Zadrima fra il 1810 e il 1815; lo troviamo nel 1837 seminarista nel collegio di Propaganda Fide.
^Sbornik za narodni umotvorenii︠a︡ i narodopis. Izdatelstvo na Bŭlgarskata akademii︠a︡ na naukite. 1968. p. 430. Retrieved 4 December 2013. За помощници Красник имал Дон Зариши и скадарчанина Дотмазе, син на богат търговец и епископ в Мале- сия
^David MacKenzie (1985). Ilija Garašanin: Balkan Bismarck. East European Monographs. p. 73. ISBN978-0-88033-073-2. Through him Garasanin contacted chieftain, Bib Doda, who pledged that his Mirdites would revolt in return for autonomy and religious freedom