Martin Camaj (21 July 1925 – 12 March 1992) was an Albanian folklorist, linguist, poet, and writer. He is regarded as one of the major authors of modern Albanian prose. His novel ''Rrathë'' is considered to be the first psychological novel written in Albanian.

Life

Martin Camaj was born in Temal, Shkodër District,

Shkodër County Shkodër County () is a county in northwestern Albania, with the capital in Shkodër. The county spans and had a total population of 154,479 people as of the 2023 census. The county borders on the counties of Lezhë, Kukës and the country of M ...

, northwestern Albania on 21 July 1925. He first studied in the Jesuit Saverian College of

Shkodër Shkodër ( , ; sq-definite, Shkodra; historically known as Scodra or Scutari) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, fifth-most-populous city of Albania and the seat of Shkodër County and Shkodër Municipality. Shkodër has been List of o ...

and afterwards in the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

. Later Camaj worked as professor of

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 ...

at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

, where he did postgraduate research and finished studies on linguistics in 1960. In 1957 he became the editor-in-chief of the Albanological journal ''Shejzat'' published in Rome. In 1961 he settled in Munich and first worked as a lector at the

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich, LMU or LMU Munich; ) is a public university, public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke ...

, where in 1964 he became a

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

. In 1970 he earned his professorship and until 1990 he was a professor of Albanology at the same university. A resident of Lenggries, Bavaria since the 1970s, Camaj died there on 12 March 1992.

Works

Camaj's works revolve around themes like the loss and search for tradition and the loneliness brought on by future changes. His first verse collections ''Nji fyell ndër male'' (A flute in mountains) and ''Kanga e Vërrinit'' (Song of the lowland pastures) were published in Pristina in 1953 and 1954 respectively. His first major prose work was ''Djella'', published in Rome in 1958. His next novel ''Rrathë'' (Circles) was published in Munich in 1978. ''Rrathë'', which is Camaj's largest work, took him fifteen years to complete and is regarded as the first psychological novel written in Albanian. The novel is divided into three cycles: water, fire, and blood, which symbolize recurrent metaphysical and social themes. In 1981, a collection titled ''Shkundullima'' (Quaking) that included five short stories and one play was published. His last novel ''Karpa'', which was published in 1987 in Rome, is a

dystopia A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmen ...

n work set in 2238.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Camaj, Martin 1925 births 1992 deaths People from Vau i Dejës Albanian novelists Sapienza University of Rome alumni University of Belgrade Faculty of Philology alumni Academic staff of the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich 20th-century Albanian novelists 20th-century Albanian linguists