Azem Shkreli (; 10 February 1938 – 27 May 1997) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

writer, poet, director and producer. He was head of the Kosovo Writers' Association, president of the

Association of Writers of Yugoslavia The Association of Writers of Yugoslavia or the Yugoslav Writer's Union (, , ) was an umbrella organisation of 6 of the constituent republics' writers associations in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Association coordinated cooper ...

, manager of the

National Theatre of Kosovo The National Theatre of Kosovo (; / ) was founded in 1946 in the city of Prizren, Kosovo. It is the highest ranked theatre institution in the country, with the largest number of productions. The National Theatre is the only public theatre in ...

(then ''People`s Provincial Theatre'') in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

and founder and manager of Kosovafilm, a film production, distribution and screening company.

Biography

Azem Shkreli was born on February 10, 1938, in the village of Shkrel of

Peja Peja or Peć, ), is the fifth most populous city in Kosovo and serves as the seat of the Peja Municipality and the District of Peja. It is located in the Rugova region on the eastern section of the Accursed Mountains along the Peja's Lumbar ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

(now

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

). He lost his mother when he was two years old, and was brought up by his grandmother, who also died when he was a young boy. He went to elementary school in his hometown, and in

, he attended high school and graduated in 1961, and then went to the Faculty of Philosophy of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina () is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–1999) as a result of the Kosovo War. The inauguration ...

, to study in the Department of Albanian Language and Literature Studies, from which he graduated in 1965. As a student, he began writing for the daily newspaper ''

Rilindja The Albanian National Awakening ( or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political, and social movement in the Albanian history where the Albanian ...

'' and served as head of the Kosovo Writers' Association. He worked as director of the

(then ''People's Provincial Theatre'') from 1960 to 1975 and in 1975 he became founder and director of Kosovafilm, a film production, distribution and screening company – a post he held until he was expelled by the new Serb administration in 1991. He was the president of the

between 1982 and 1983. The poet was deeply concerned with the fate of Kosova, dedicating himself wholeheartedly to the struggle for his people’s fundamental human rights and liberation. During the 1990s, he spent some time in Germany, where his wife received medical treatment unavailable in Kosova. Despite this, he chose not to remain abroad with his family, instead returning to Prishtina to live alone. This was a painful choice for him, yet one he felt compelled to make out of a sense of duty and commitment. When invited to stay for three months at

Villa Waldberta Villa Waldberta Artists Residence () is a historic estate in Feldafing, Bavaria, Germany. The villa, along with Ebenböckhaus in Pasing, accommodates the city of Munich's Artist-in-Residence program. Villa Waldberta was completed in 1902 in the ...

in Bavaria in 1993, he grew restless and left after only six weeks. Shkreli worked tirelessly, never losing sight of the ultimate goal: freedom and independence for his fellow Kosovo Albanians. On May 25, 1997, he passed away at the Prishtina airport, just moments after stepping onto his homeland’s soil following a visit to Germany.

Works

He published these works in poetry Bulzat (1960), Angels of the streets (1963), I know a stone vial (1969), From the bible of silence (1975), Baptism of the word (1981), Night of the parrots (1990), Rainy lyrics (1994), Birds and stones (1997). In prose: The white caravan (1961), Eve's eyes (1975), The Albanian wall, Seven from at, as well as the dramas: Fosilet (1968), Varri i cyqes (1983), etc. His poems have been translated into many foreign languages.

References

External links

1938 births 1997 deaths People from Peja Albanian-language writers 20th-century Albanian writers {{Albania-writer-stub