September 18th marks the 97th birth anniversary of Albanian Dionis Bubani, an Albanian writer, playwright, and translator. He is one of the first professional playwrights which emerged after World War II in Albania and one of the most representative writers of children’s literature.

Dionis Bubani was born in Bucharest, Romania, on 18 September 1926. He finished his elementary and high school in Bucharest. Bubani was the son of Gjergj Bubani, Albanian editor, publicist, and translator who had lived and worked in Romania for a long time. During the years 1932-33 in Constanta, Romania, Gjergji published the patriotic newspaper “Kosova”.The family got back to Albania in 1936, where his father Gjergj would become chief-editor of Drita (“The light”) newspaper and later Director of Radio Tirana.

After World War II, his father would be arrested and imprisoned by the notorious Special Court of Koci Xoxe. Dionis Bubani experienced a difficult period, being forced to take care of the family as well. He did odd jobs bicycle repairing, cigarette ambulant, and a dactylographer for the Albanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During this time started writing and collaborating for the journals and magazines Letrari i ri (“The new literary”) and Rinia (“The youth”), while in 1946 he started publishing in Hosteni, the most known Albanian satirical magazine.  Later, he became a chief-editor of this magazine. He also collaborated with the “Estrada e Tiranës” (“Tirana Variety Show).

Dionis Bubani studied philology in the University of Tirana. He had a long creative career where he contributed in publicistics, satire, humor, children literature, translations, and comedy writing. He received several titles in appreciation of his work. One of his works covers many Albanian Renaisance men and literary figures, whom he knew personally. i.e. Çajupi, Asdreni, Mitrush Kuteli, Lasgush Poradeci, Skender Luarasi, Ismail Kadare, etc. In 2005, he published an autobiography.
Dionis Bubani passed away in Tirana, on 10 February 2006.

/k.s/