Early years and scientific work in Albania Andrea Shundi was born on November 15, 1934, in
Tirana,
Albania. During the 1964–1975 period Shundi was Director of the Livestock Feeds, Field Crops and Scientific Research Department in the
Ministry of Agriculture of Albania. and consociation of plant cultivation () A third concept was introduced by Shundi in the Albanian agriculture, the
Coefficient of Land Usage (CLU) (), which is a measuring indicator that determines the degree of intensity of use of agricultural land through plant cultivation. The CLU includes units of mass, area, money, and time (usually ton per ha/$/days) and is used for both the coordination and the consociation of plant cultivation. During 1994–1998, Shundi was scientific secretary of the Natural and Technical Sciences Section of the
Academy of Sciences of Albania.
Migration to the United States and work (1998-2024) Shundi retired from the Academy of Sciences in 1998, and migrated to the United States where he became a citizen. There he continued to write books on the forage systems with the Albanian peculiarities, but also started to focus on the history of the Albanian agriculture on the whole, and the Albanian viticulture and viniculture in particular. In his writings Shundi describes the history of the Albanian agriculture, which is a main part of the history of the Albanian people. His book,
Bujqësia dhe Veprimi Agronomik në Troje Shqiptare (2001) (), was the first historical book ever published on the history of the Albanian agriculture. The books chronologically focuses from the
Neolithic Age until the 20th century. Shundi's second book on the history of the Albanian agriculture,
Historia e Bujqësisë dhe Agroindustrisë Shqiptare (2003) () focuses on
Medieval,
Ottoman Albania, and
Albanian National Awakening period, encompassing a period from the 6th to the 19th centuries. Another chapter of the book, written by Shundi, covers the history of agricultural education and scientific research in Albania. His third book on the history of the Albanian agriculture,
Jetë Agronomike (2004) (), focuses on the history of Albanian agriculture in the second half of the 20th century. Professor Velesin Peçuli, then Rector of the Agricultural University of Tirana prefaced the book where he points out rigorous scientific work of Shundi. After 10 monographs on the forage crops, in 2004 Shundi published the
Bimët Foragjere në Zonën e Ftohtë.(). The book is accompanied by a technical explanatory vocabulary of key words and technical terms. From 2001 to 2010 Shundi also published 6 books on viticulture and viniculture.
Vreshtaria Praktike.(), published in 2001, was praised in its preface by Italian academic Eugenio Sartori as a good omen for the Albanian viticulture, which has a long tradition. The book was followed by another publication, in 2004,
Vreshtaria dhe Verëtaria Shqiptare, (), which was prefaced by Albanian professor,
Moikom Zeqo. Zeqo calls the book a synthesis of both an old and a young mentality for the viticulture and viniculture. In addition, he describes the book as a testimony to the Albanian culture on wine, as a subtract of a larger Mediterranean wine culture. The book is in Albanian with a partial translation into English. In 2006 Shundi published
Fjalor Shtjellues për Vreshtarinë dhe Verëtarinë.(), prefaced by the Albanian linguist, head of the coordinating group of the Albanian Encyclopaedia,
Emil Lafe, who praises the book as a mature work that spans on the linguistic side as well as on the Agricultural one. The book includes terms and proverbs used in
Arvanitic,
Cham Albanian, and
Arbëreshë, as well as terms in
Gheg Albanian, which are not commonly used in today's Albanian, and thus attempts to include all the linguistic riches of the Albanian language. In 2008 Shundi published
Prodhimi Shtëpiak i Rrushit dhe Verës (), prefaced by well known Albanian professor
Aleko Minga, who described the book as a
great means of diffusion of the Albanian agricultural culture. In 2010 Shundi published two additional books,
Fjalor Enciklopedik per Vreshtarinë dhe Verëtarinë (), prefaced by Prof. Resmi Osmani. The following book, called
Vreshta dhe Kantina Shqiptare, (), includes a description of the most successful Albanian vineyards and cantines in Albanian,
Kosovo,
Macedonia, and
Montenegro. Shundi is widely cited by his peers such as by Lush Susaj, Professor at the Agricultural University of Tirana,
Vineyards Cultivation, Tirana 2009, Kosovan professor and academic Latif Susuri
Dictionary: Plants, Parasytes, Pathogens Prishtina 2005,
Dictionary of Agricultural and Forestry Plants, and Weeds, Prishtina 2006, Professor Fatmir Voci in his
Practices of Viticulture, 2007 (FAO Project), and Velesin Peculi in his
Organic Agriculture Tirana 2005.
Agricultural Conferences Organiser Shundi has been an organiser and coordinator of 11 national meetings on the agricultural science. Along with academic Mentor Përmeti he organised in 1975 an Albanian National Conference on Agricultural Sciences. Shundi organised a second national conference of this dimension 1991, called
Agriculture under the new economical Developments in Albania, and focused on the major economic transformations of the Albanian agriculture following the transitory period of the
History of post-Communist Albania. In addition to these major conferences dedicated to the Albanian agriculture as a whole, Shundi also organized 11 pan-Albanian conferences on viticulture and viniculture in Albania and Kosovo in the 2001-2023 period. Last he was co-organizer of two scientific conferences on Albanian wines along with the Academies of Sciences of Albania and Kosovo (a 2017 seminar held in
Rahovec, Kosovo on the
Vranç wine and a 2022 symposium held in Tirana, Albania on 10 local wines of Albania and Kosovo).
Participation in International Congresses Shundi took papers in the following international congresses and symposia: • Five professional delegations of Albania at the
Food and Agriculture Organization's General World or European meetings (in 1973, 1980, 1981, 1985, and 1987). • Symposium of the Italian Association of the Agronomy (
Potenza Italy, 1991) • Symposium of the European Network of the Food and Agriculture Organization (
Nitra, Slovakia, 1992) • International Symposium on forages organised by the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute (
Bari Italy, 1992) • Symposium of the European Network of the FAO on the forages (
Montpellier, France, 1987) • XVIIth International Grassland Congress (
Palmerston North, New Zealand 1993) • Symposium of the European Network of the Food and Agriculture Organizationon forages (
Chania, Greece, 1993) • Vth International Congress on forages (
Salt Lake City, USA, 1995) • Symposium of the Italian Association of forests and the
Italian Minister of Agriculture (
Verona, Italy, 1996) • VIth International Congress on forages (
Townsville, Australia, 1999) • Five international conferences on viticulture and viniculture organised by world's largest grapevine nursery
Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo during the (1997–2007) period (two in Italy, one in
Bordeaux, France, one in
Athens, Greece, and one in
Porto, Portugal)
Memberships Shundi was Albanian representative of the European Federation for Forage Plants during the 1995–1999 period, a board member of the
TEMPUS project for Albania, organised by the EU during the 1991–1992 period. He was elected head of the Albanian association of the agronomists in 1991. He was also a board member of the Committee of Science and Technics in Albania in the 1990–1992 period, a board member in the Albanian National Commission for Scientific Post Doc qualification in the 1990–1992 period. During 2003-2009 he was a member of the editorial board on Agriculture for the draft of the Albanian Encyclopedia by the Academy of Sciences of Albania and the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. He is again member of the editorial board for the new encyclopedia project, started in 2023. Earlier he was a board member of the scientific councils of the Agricultural University of Tirana (1987–1992), and president of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Agronomy (1984–1992). He was also member of the scientific councils of the
Fan Noli University (1987–1992), the Institute of Forage Research in
Fushë-Krujë, (1984–1992), the Institute of Agricultural Research in
Lushnje (1978–1987).
Death Andrea Shundi died from
pancreatic cancer at his home in
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on April 30, 2024, at the age of 89. ==Acknowledgements and awards==