On February 20, 1879, the first theatrical performance was given in Albania, at the Saverian College of Shkodra.

On February 20, 1945, Haxhi Dalipi “Merited Artist” was born in Gjirokastër. He contributed to Albanian ethnomusicology, creating and re-orchestrating many Albanian folk songs and dances. He passed away at the age of 61.

On February 20, 1991, after several weeks of students’ protests in December and the last few days of hunger strike, the citizens of Tirana joined in a grand protest, which ended with the demolition of the monument of the dictator Enver Hoxha.

February 20, 1991 marked the end of the communist regime in Albania. One of the wire ropes that was used to pull the monument is on display in the Pavilion of Communist Terror, near the National History Museum. This day entered Albanian history as the day when the myth of the dictator Enver Hoxha was destroyed.

On January 20, 2010, Pashko Gjeçi, a well-known poet, teacher and translator, passed away. He was born in Tirana on September 7, 1918. Thanks to the results achieved in high school, the Ministry of Education awarded him a half scholarship. In the academic year 1938, he enrolled in the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy in Rome. On July 15, 1942, he graduated with the degree of Doctor of Science in that faculty with excellent results. After returning to Albania, on September 4, 1947, he was arrested on the charge of “Participation in a group against the government” and sentenced to five years in prison. He was released in 1952 and settled once again in Shkodër with his family. In the years 1954-1958, he worked as a teacher at the eight-year school in Fushë-Kruja, during which time he contributed to the translation of Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. From 1968 to 1972 he taught Latin at the Faculty of Medicine. Meanwhile, in 1969 “Comedy” was published in Kosovo., “Odyssey” was published in 1976. He died at the age of 91.

/a.s/