Ali Podrimja

Ali Podrimja was born on 28 August 1942 in Gjakova, in a patriotic and intellectual family. His father was Simon Podrimja, a participant in the Literary Congress of Monastir and the Congress of Elbasan, as well as one of the founders of the Normal School of Elbasan. Podrimja attended the secondary school in Korça and later studied at the University of Grenoble and Lyon in France, where he learned several languages. He worked as a teacher, journalist, editor, translator, and diplomat in Kosovo, Albania, and France. He was one of the founders of the Albanian Writers' Association and the Albanian PEN Center. He was also a member of the European Art Center of Greece. He published more than a dozen volumes of poetry, some of which were translated into several languages. He also wrote essays, studies, and books on literature, history, theology, diplomacy, journalism, music, national unity and ecumenism. He was recognized as a leading and innovative poet of modern Albanian verse, both in Kosovo and in Albania. He was awarded several prizes, such as the Nikolaus Lenau Prize in 1999. He died on 21 July 2012 in Lodève, France, under unknown circumstances. His premature loss was considered a loss for the Albanian art and literature. [1](^1^) [2](^2^)