Sterjo Spasse (; 14 August 1914 – 12 September 1989) was an Albanian prose writer and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

Life

Sterjo Spasse was born in 1914 in Gollomboç,

Pustec Municipality Pustec Municipality (; ), previously known as Liqenas Commune () from 1973 to 2013, is a municipality in the Korçë County of Albania. The population at the 2011 census was 3,290, in a total area of . The municipality's flag features the Vergina S ...

Korçë District Korçë District (), was one of the 36 districts of Albania, which were dissolved in July 2000 and replaced by 12 counties. It had a population of 143,499 in 2001, and an area of . Its capital was the city of Korçë. Its territory is now part of ...

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 ...

, of Macedonian Slav descent. Spasse pursued the elementary school in

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the List of cities and towns in Albania, eighth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population of the city is 51,152 and 75,994 of Korçë municipal ...

, and later, the Shkolla Normale e Elbasanit. He worked as a teacher in Derviçan, in the

Dropull Dropull ( sq-definite, Dropulli; ''Dropoli'' or ''Deropoli'') is a municipality in Gjirokastër County, in southern Albania. The region stretches from south of the city of Gjirokastër to the Greek–Albanian border, along the Drino river. The reg ...

region, and then went to the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

, Italy to study

Pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken ...

. He also pursued a master in literature in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Along his various contributions in the pedagogic field and translations, his main fieldwork was creative writing, which started in the 1930s. He published four collections of short stories and 10 novels: After World War II he worked as a literary critic and writer in the pedagogic magazines ''The new school'' (), and ''The popular education'' (), as well as ''Our Literature'' (), and ''November'' (). Spasse's novel ''Pse?'' is considered one of his better novels; it has been translated into English by Robert Wilton. He was a member of the Albanian League of Writers and Artists. Spasse died in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

, Albania, in 1989. Spasse's son, Ilinden Spase (born 1934), is also a writer. A museum dedicated to Sterjo Spasse was opened in his native village of Glloboçen in 2022.

Short stories

*''"Kuror rinie"'' (Youth crown), 1934. *''"Në krahët e një femre"'' (In the arms of a woman), 1934. *''"Nusja pa duvak"'' (Bride without veil), 1944. *''"Të fala nga fshati"'', (Regards from the village), 1958.

Novels

*''"Pse ?"'' (Why ?), 1935. *''"Afërdita"'' ( Afërdita), 1944. *''"Ata nuk ishin vetëm"'' (They were not alone), 1952. *''"Afërdita përsëri në fshat"'' (Afërdita back in the village), 1954. *''"Buzë liqenit"'' (Lakeside), 1965. *''"Zjarre..."'' (Fires...), 1972. *''"Zgjimi"'' (Awakening), 1973. *''"Pishtarë"'' (Beacons), 1975. *''"Ja vdekje ja liri"'' (Death or freedom), 1978. *''"Kryengritësit"'' (Rebels), 1983.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spasse, Sterjo 1914 births Ethnic Macedonian people Albanian-language writers Postmodern writers 1989 deaths 20th-century Albanian novelists Socialist realism writers University of Elbasan alumni People from Pustec Albanian people of Macedonian descent