The society was founded by elite members of the
Central Committee for Defending Albanian Rights, led by
Sami Frashëri,
Abdyl Frashëri, and other
Rilindas as
Jani Vreto,
Pandeli Sotiri,
Koto Hoxhi,
Pashko Vasa, etc. Its members represented all
Albanian territories and all religions. Not much is known on the discussions that took place during the seances, due to lack of
Procès-verbals or specific
memoirs on this event. All is known is that
Hasan Tahsini proposed his own alphabet, a
sui generis one derived out of geometrical lines and even printed later in few pages, while the final alphabet was accepted that of Sami Frashëri based on
Latin script with some enrichment. The pamphlet "Etudes sur l’Albanie et les Albanais", originally written in French and published in Istanbul in 1879 was one of the initial publications. Following the re-publication in French in
Paris, the pamphlet was also published in English in
London and in German in
Berlin thanks to the Ottoman consul in Paris. The volume was later on translated into Albanian, Ottoman Turkish and Greek and finally into Arabic (1884) and Italian (1916). In the summer of 1881,
Jani Vreto opened in
Bucharest the
Romanian branch of the society. The
Egyptian branch was founded by
Spiro Dine from the town of
Vithkuq near
Korçë, in
Shibin Al Kawm, during 1881 as well. After its activities were banned, the society transferred in
Bucharest were many publications in
Albanian were to follow in so called
Instambul Alphabet (see
Albanian Alphabet). It was there where the textbooks of
Sami Frashëri, like
Abetarja e Shkronjëtoreja - Grammatical Work, 1886, and
Abetare e gjuhësë shqip, 1886, etc. would come to life. The society gave huge contribute to education in Albanian back in the days, and emphasized the need for a unified
Albanian alphabet. {{cquote
Founders The list of founders as appears in the statute printed in A. Zelici's print shop: ==Istanbul Alphabet==