People’s Artist Tinka Kurti celebrates her 93rd birthday today.

The renowned stage and film actress was born on December 17, 1932, in Sarajevo. Her mother was a leading actress at the Sarajevo National Theatre. The family moved to Shkodra when Tinka was five.

In 1947, she moved to Tirana to study at the Tirana Polytechnic. By chance, she entered the Drama Department at the Artistic Lyceum.

In 1949, she joined the “Migjeni” Theatre in Shkodra. She performed more than 120 roles there. She shone in leading roles in plays such as “Gjaku i Arbrit,” “Histori Irkutase,” “Toka Jonë,” “Fisheku në pajë,” and “Fejesa.”

She also played more than 35 roles in cinema. Audiences remember her as the lead actress in “Tana” (1958), Albania’s first feature-length film.

Throughout her career, she performed around 300 roles in theatre and film. She stood out in roles such as Mother Pashako in “Yjet e netëve të gjata” (1972), the Mother in “Çifti i lumtur” (1975), Signorina Mançini in “Vajzat me kordele të kuqe” (1978), and the Grandmother in “Zemra e nënës” (1993).

In 2000, at the 11th Festival in Tirana, she received the Grand Career Award. She earned the title “Merited Artist” in 1961. She later received the highest title, “People’s Artist.”

Her career also includes many festival awards. The President of the Republic awarded her the medal “Grand Master of Work.”

/a.c/