The well-known Albanian writer, Ismail Kadare celebrates today the 87th anniversary of his birth. Ismail Kadare was born on January 28, 1936 in Gjirokastër to become one of the greatest writers not only at the Albanian but also at the international level.

His literature has been translated into more than 45 different languages of the world. Ismail Kadare has been a candidate for the “Nobel” prize in literature several times, while the highest prize he holds in literature is the “Man Booker Prize” and the “Prince of Asturias”. He has also won the highest French decoration, as ‘Commander of the Legion of Honor’.

His vocation for literature began at an early age, when the reading of the tragedy “Macbeth” by the English author, William Shakespeare, would leave an indelible mark on the young boy Kadare. He would stay in his hometown until the end of secondary education, when he prepared for publication his first cycle of poems “Boyish Inspirations” (1954). Then, he settled in Tirana, where he completed his higher studies in the Language-Literature branch and graduated as a “Teacher”.

In the span of 1958-1960, Kadare deepened his studies in the field of literature at the “Maxim Gorky” Institute in Moscow. In 1960, forced to abandon his studies due to the termination of relations between Albania and the former Soviet Union, he returned to his homeland and started working in journalism. In 1963, after occasional retouching, his novel “The General of the Dead Army” was published, which resonated even beyond the country. The theme of the freedom-loving nature of the Albanians that is observed in this work, would be the main theme of the novel “Castle”, published in 1970. In this vein, the author was also inspired to write the novel “The wedding procession frozen in ice”, which speaks on the 1981 demonstrations of Kosovo Albanians.

However, Kadare’s pen would not spare the criticism of the backward traditions of the society, as written in the novel “Chronicles in Stone” (1970). In the series of uninterrupted publications, the allegorical novel “The Clerk of the Palace of Dreams” (1981), stands out as the most curved in the entirety of Kadare’s work. In the fall of 1990, Kadare left for France and returned to his homeland after the first democratic developments. Since 1996, the Albanian writer is an associate member (for life) of the French Academy of Moral and Political Sciences. He has been awarded a number of international prizes (“Man Booker Prize”, “Prince of Asturias”, etc.), as selected among world-renowned writers, such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Günter Grass and Milan Kundera. Until now, his works have been translated into about 45 languages of the world.

Kadare has been decorated by the President of the Republic of Albania with the “Honour of the Nation” Order, as well as by the French state with the “Cross of the Legion of Honor” and “Officer of the Legion of Honor” orders.

Meanwhile, the General Directorate of Archives has today published the copy of the manuscript of his first novel, “City without ads” (it was written in 1959, but remained in manuscript and was published after the 90s), donated by the author on May 24, 2002.

/a.p./