Tirana, 01 July 2024, dtt-net.com – The master of Albanian literature, Ismail Kadare, died today morning at 88, his publishing house announced.
“Today, on July 1, 2024 at 08:50, the great writer Ismail Kadare died at Mother Teresa University Hospital Center,” Onuri announced.
Kadare gained international fame with his novel “The General of Dead Army” (1963) after being translated in French in 1970, which tells the story of an Italian general sent to Albania to locate and return to Italy the remains of his country’s soldiers who had died during the WWII. The novel was later translated into 20 languages.
“Albania and Albanians lost today their genius of letters, their spiritual emancipator, the Balkans the poet of his myths, Europe and the world among the most prominent representatives of modern literature,” Albania’s President Bajram Begaj said.
“Ismail Kadare was the Albanian genius, the man and writer who devoted his whole life and work to the love of the land, the blood of the Albanians, creating an indelible legacy of the worship of glory to the country of his nation,” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani said.
In early ‘90s, just after the fall of the communist regime, Kadare move to France where he obtained political asylum and continued to write. He was nominated for Nobel Prize for literature several times.
Kadare died of cardiac arrest.
