Luan Arif Starova (; 14 August 1941 – 24 February 2022) was an Albanian writer who lived in

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

. He published his works both in

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 ...

and in

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

. He is translated in over 20 languages around the world.

Biography

Luan Starova was born in

Pogradec Pogradec (,) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eleventh most populous city in Albania and the capital of the eponymous municipality. It is located on a List of settlements on the Lake Ohrid coastline, narrow plain between two mountain ch ...

, an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n town on

Lake Ohrid Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more th ...

, in 1941. His family had legal and scholarly background: his grandfather on the father's side had served as an Ottoman

qadi A qadi (; ) is the magistrate or judge of a Sharia court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and minors, and supervision and auditing of public works. History The term '' was in use from ...

Prilep Prilep ( ) is the List of cities in North Macedonia, fourth-largest city in North Macedonia. According to 2021 census, it had a population of 63,308. Name The name of Prilep appeared first as ''Πρίλαπος'' in Greek (''Prilapos'') in 1 ...

, before retiring and emigrating to Turkey; his father earned a law degree in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, and was a lawyer and a scholar. In 1943, when Luan was a small child, his family moved to

Struga Struga ( ; , sq-definite, Struga) is a town and popular tourist destination situated in the south-western region of North Macedonia, lying on the shore of Lake Ohrid. The town of Struga is the seat of Struga Municipality. Name The name Struga ...

, then annexed by

, at the opposite end of Lake Ohrid from Pogradec. (Struga is now part of the

Republic of North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

.) After WWII, the family moved to

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

, the capital of the new

SR Macedonia The Socialist Republic of Macedonia (), or SR Macedonia, commonly referred to as Socialist Macedonia, Yugoslav Macedonia or simply Macedonia, was one of the six constituent republics of the post-World War II Socialist Federal Republic of Y ...

. He grew up in

Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito ( ; , ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 until his death ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, and studied

French language French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...

and literature at

Skopje University The Saints Cyril and Methodius University () is a public research university in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is the oldest and largest public university in the country. It is named after the Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries Cyri ...

(1960–1967). After graduation, he worked as a journalist, becoming in 1968 the editor of the Albanian-language program of Television Skopje. However, that same year he left for

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

to start his postgraduate studies at

Zagreb University The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the University North are th ...

. He earned a master's degree with a thesis on ''The Balkans in the Prose of

Guillaume Apollinaire Guillaume Apollinaire (; ; born Kostrowicki; 26 August 1880 – 9 November 1918) was a French poet, playwright, short story writer, novelist and art critic of Poland, Polish descent. Apollinaire is considered one of the foremost poets of the ...

''. When working for his doctoral degree in French and comparative literature (awarded 1978), he spent some time at Sorbonne, collecting materials on the collaboration of Apollinaire and the Albanian scholar and writer

Faik Konitza Faik Bey Konica (later named Faïk Dominik Konitza, 15 March 1875 – 15 December 1942) was an important figure in Albanian language and culture in the early decades of the twentieth century. As the Albanian minister to Washington, D.C., his lit ...

. Later, he was to edit a book about these two writers. Starova worked as a professor of

French literature French literature () generally speaking, is literature written in the French language, particularly by French people, French citizens; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of Franc ...

, eventually serving as the chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literature. Since 1985, Starova also worked on a number of diplomatic posts in various European and Arab countries. After the

became an independent state, Starova was appointed as his country's first ambassador to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(1994); later he also served as the ambassador to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

(1996) and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

.Robert Elsie, Albanian Literature in Translation
Luan Starova

''My Father's Books'' by Luan Starova; translated by Christina E. Kramer. Starova started writing novels in 1971. Several of Starova's novels published since 1992 form the so-called "Balkan Saga", in which he explored the lives of people on both sides of the Albania-Macedonia border under three "Empires"—the Ottoman, the Fascist, and the Stalinist—through the story of his family. Luan Starova was a translator of French literary works (e.g., poetry by André Frénaud ( fr)) into both Albanian and Macedonian. Since 1972, Starova participated in the organization of the annual

Struga Poetry Evenings Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) (, СВП; tr. ''Struški večeri na poezijata'', ''SVP'') is an international poetry festival held annually in Struga, North Macedonia. During the several decades of its existence, the Festival has awarded its most ...

. In 2017, he was awarded the

French legion of honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...

, rank officer.

Personal life and death

Luan Starova's father, Arif Starova, who in his youth earned a law degree in Istanbul, worked as a lawyer in both Albania and Yugoslavia. An ardent bibliophile and amateur historian, he joined the staff of the National History Institute in Skopje, where he was able to use his knowledge of

Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...

to translate Ottoman-era documents. After his retirement, he continued as an independent researcher. He put much effort into deciphering, studying, and translating records of the

Bitola Bitola (; ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing ...

's court from the 15th through 19th centuries. The theme of "my Father's books" often appears in Starova's work. Starova's older brother, Vulnet Starova ( mk), was a doctor and politician. He served as the

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the People's Assembly of Macedonia in 1986–1991. Luan's wife is Gëzime Starova. Starova died on 24 February 2022, at the age of 80.

Works

* Луѓе и мостови (1971) (''People and Bridges'') * Kutijtë e pranvëres (1971) (''The Boundaries of Spring'') * Barikadat e kohës (1976) (''The Barricades of Time'') * Доближувања (1977) (''Approaches'') * Релации (1982) (''Relations'') * Кинеска пролет (1984) (''Chinese Spring'') * Пријатели (1986) (''Friends'') * Континуитети (1988) (''Continuities'') * Митска птица (1991) (''Mythic Bird'') * Песни од Картагина (1991) (''Songs from Carthage'') * Мостот на љубовта (1992) (''The Bridge of Love'') * Татковите книги (1993) (
My Father's Books
') * Време на козите (1993) (

'; a small extract is translated as

') * Балкански клуч (1995) (''The Balkan Key'') * Француски книжевни студии - 20 век (1995) (''French literary studies: the 20th century'') * Атеистички музеј (1997) (''The Museum of Atheism'') * Пресадена земја (1998) (''The transplanted land'') * Патот на јагулите (2000) (''The Path of the Eels'')

English translations

Two of Luan Starova's novels from the ''Balkan Saga'' cycle (''My Father's Books'' and ''The Time of the Goats'') have been published in English translation, translated by Christina E. Kramer. In 2014, she was awarded a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

grant to fund her work on translating another novel from this cycle, ''The Path of the Eels'' (possibly under an English title ''Pyramid of Water'').Christina E. Kramer: 2014 Translation Projects
(National Endowment for the Arts) This was the first time ever a NEA grant was awarded to support a translation from Macedonian to English.
2013-07-23

French translations

Le Rivage de l'exil, Éditions de l'Aube, Collection Regards croisés, 2003, 284 pages (ISBN 978-2-87678-860-2) (traduction du macédonien par Clément d'Içartéguy, nom de plume de Patrick Chrismant, premier ambassadeur de France à Skopje) - préface d’Edgar Morin Le Temps des chèvres, Fayard, 1997 (ISBN 978-2-213-59801-7) (traduction du macédonien par Clément d'Içartéguy) Faïk Konitza et Guillaume Apollinaire : une amitié européenne, L'Esprit des péninsules, 1998 (ISBN 978-2-910435-37-0) Les Livres de mon père, Fayard, 1998 (ISBN 978-2-213-60171-7) (traduction du macédonien et de l'albanais par Clément d'Içartéguy) Le Chemin des anguilles, Éditions des Syrtes, 2009 (ISBN 978-2-84545-146-9) (traduction du macédonien par Clément d'Içartéguy) Le Musée de l'athéisme, Fayard, 1999 (ISBN 978-2-213-60431-2) (traduction du macédonien par Harita Wybrands)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Starova, Luan 1941 births 2022 deaths Macedonian people of Albanian descent Albanian writers Macedonian writers Albanian translators Macedonian translators Diplomats for North Macedonia Ambassadors of North Macedonia to France Ambassadors of North Macedonia to Spain Ambassadors of North Macedonia to Portugal Albanian emigrants Immigrants to Yugoslavia French–Albanian translators French–Macedonian translators Officers of the Legion of Honour