TIRANA, March 10 – Martin Camaj was an Albanian poet, linguist, folklorist, and university professor who carried the voice of his native language into European scholarship. Although he lived mostly outside Albania, his work shaped modern understanding of the Albanian language and literature.

Camaj was born on July 21, 1925, in Temal, in northern Albania. There, he grew up in a mountainous region where oral traditions, songs, and storytelling influenced daily life. As a result, he discovered early the power of words.

He studied at the Jesuit Saverian College in Shkodër, known for classical education. However, political changes after World War II forced him into exile. In 1948, he left Albania and began traveling across Europe.

Meanwhile, he continued his studies at the University of Belgrade, focusing on Slavic studies, Romance languages, and Albanology. Later, in 1956, Italian mentors supported his move to Rome, where he completed postgraduate work and defended a dissertation on an early Albanian text in 1960.

In Rome, Camaj taught Albanian language and literature. At the same time, he edited the cultural journal Shejzat (Little Signs), which served Albanian writers in exile. Through this work, he developed both his scholarly and literary careers.

In addition, Camaj published early poetry collections, including Nji fyell ndër male (A Flute in the Mountains) and Kanga e vërrinit (Song of the Lowland Pastures), reflecting the landscapes of his youth. Then, in 1978, he published Rrathë (Circles), regarded as the first psychological novel in Albanian. The novel explored memory, identity, and the idea of home.

He also conducted research on Albanian dialects, grammar, and language history, bridging folklore and linguistics.
In 1961, he joined Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich. From 1971 to 1990, he led the Chair of Albanology, helping establish Munich as a center for Albanian studies in Europe.

However, Camaj never returned to Albania. He lived in Lenggries, Bavaria, keeping the memories of his homeland while continuing his work.
Camaj passed away on March 12, 1992, in Munich. Nevertheless, his legacy endures in classrooms, poetry collections, novels, and studies of the Albanian language. His life showed that language serves as a home, one he carried across Europe through teaching and writing.

/a.p./