Ernest Koliqi

Ernest Koliqi was born in 1903 in Shkodër, Albania, to a patriotic and well-educated family. He studied Albanian language and literature at the University of Tirana, where he graduated in 1937. He published some articles on social issues under the pseudonym Muza (the Muse). In 1938, he moved to Rome to study literature at La Sapienza University. There, he wrote his first professional work, As my old mother tells me, a collection of ten prose tales inspired by the popular culture and folklore of Shkodër. The book was published in 1941 in Tirana and is considered the first literary work by a female writer in Albanian history. He also published an Italian-Albanian dictionary, which has not been found. [1](^1^) [2](^2^) In 1942, he returned to Albania and joined the anti-fascist and anti-communist movements. He contributed to the magazine The Albanian Woman under the pseudonym Tacitta. In 1943, he co-founded the Social Democratic Party of Albania, a moderate and pro-European political force. He also edited the party newspaper The Alliance and the cultural magazine Axis. He was a vocal advocate for democracy, human rights, and European integration. He also wrote two more books of prose, Around the Hearth and How life swayed, which were published in 1944. [3](^3^) [4](^4^) In 1945, he was arrested by the communist regime and sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment. He was accused of being an enemy of the people and a traitor. He was tortured and isolated in various prisons and labor camps. He was not allowed to write or read anything. He was released in 1964, but he was not allowed to return to Tirana or to his family. He was forced to live in Rrëshen, a small town in northern Albania, under constant surveillance and harassment. He worked as a manual laborer and lived in poverty and complete isolation. He died in 1975, in Rome, where he had moved a few months earlier. He was 71 years old. He was buried in an unknown grave. [5](^5^) [6]