Translation represents an immeasurable space of knowledge for humanity. Thanks to translators, we can experience the literature, culture, and ideas of peoples from every corner of the world.

On International Translation Day, the Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents commemorated the renowned translator Jusuf Vrioni, who survived the communist regime, translated Kadare’s works, and endured the weight of 13 long years in prison, forced labor in the draining of the Maliqi swamp, and 27 years of surveillance.

Jusuf Vrioni was born on March 16, 1916, into the distinguished Berat-based Vrioni family. He was educated in Paris after his father was appointed as a diplomat. In the 1920s, Iliaz Bey Vrioni was awarded the Order of the Legion of Honour by the French state. Jusuf Vrioni pursued legal studies in France and Italy, becoming a highly intellectual figure, before returning to Albania in 1943.

On September 13, 1947, he was arrested by the communist regime under the charge of “committing crimes against the People and the State, as a member of the traitorous Social-Democratic organization and as an agent of French espionage in Tirana.” After a year-long, extremely difficult investigation, Vrioni was sentenced by the Tirana Military Court on July 8, 1950, to 15 years of imprisonment and forced labor for espionage in service to France and various connections with foreigners—charges raised and signed by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mehmet Shehu.

He served his sentence in the Burrel prison. After his release and internment in Fier, he was appointed as a translator in Tirana in 1960, working for the publishing house “8 Nëntori,” where he translated the works of Ismail Kadare, Enver Hoxha, and regime propaganda into French.

Jusuf Vrioni was under continuous surveillance by the State Security for 27 years, from February 29, 1964, to April 28, 1991, when his file was finally archived. 

According to Article 4 of the law “On the Functioning of the Albanian Telegraphic Agency,” copying, reproducing, and publishing this information without citing the source is prohibited.

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