TIRANA, February 6 – Nineteen years ago, on February 6, 2007, Albania lost the great actor and “Honor of the Nation,” Kadri Roshi.

From the age of 21, Roshi performed over 180 roles on stage and screen, leaving an artistic legacy that continues to inspire. He occupies a pedestal among the immortal legends of Albanian theatre and film.

Kadri Roshi was born on January 4, 1924, in Ballsh, into a family with roots in Libohova. He experienced a troubled childhood, losing his mother at age two and his father ten years later.

He began his acting career at 21 at the People’s Theatre. In 1951, he graduated in Prague. Returning to Albania, he took on his first major roles at the National Theatre.

His roles ranged from the slave Aesop to the caretaker in “Red Poppies on the Wall”, from the defender of the Albanian language during the Renaissance to the old man Mere in “The Man with the Canon”.

For his contribution to Albanian art, Kadri Roshi received the Career Award at the 1995 Artistic Film Festival, the title of “People’s Artist,” the Grand Honor Award in 1997, and the Order of “Honor of the Nation” in 1999.

/a.p./