Violeta Manushi

Violeta Manushi was an Albanian film and stage actress and poet, who was born in Korçë in 1926. She started her artistic life as a singer for Radio Tirana in 1945 where she sang solo. She sang folk songs of Shkodër and Middle Albania in live radio broadcast. Meanwhile, she attended a one-year study of canto at Tirana artistic lyceum under the guidance of soprano Jorgjia Filçe-Truja ( People's Artist of Albania ). Logoreci also made her appearance in various concerts in Albania and Bulgaria. She has sung around 100 different songs in Radio Tirana during the 1945–1947 years. In 1947 she started to work as a full-time actor in the National Theatre of Albania after her debut in the Army Theatre. Her first role was in Molière's Tartuffe. She acted in around 90 roles during her career and she was active for around 52 years, acting even when she was almost completely blind. Some of her most acclaimed roles were those of Kharitonov, Shpend Gjeta, The Old Man, MacDonald, Miller, Zabeliku, Klaudi, King Lear, Gjini and Ali Pasha of Gucia. She left indelible marks in Kosovar and Yugoslavian films as well: Uka i Bjeshkëve të nemuna, Buka, Etja, Trimi, Era e Lisi, Kur Pranvera vonohet, Të ngujuarit, E shtëna në ajër, Përroi vërshues, Migjeni, Gjurmët e bardha, Dorotej, and Lepuri me 5 këmbë, among others. She also wrote poems for the weekly The Voice of Albania, edited by Anastas Kullurioti. One of her most important poems was a ballad of 150 verses entitled The Albanians who fight in Gucia. She had a daughter from her marriage with director Muharrem Qena. She died in Tirana on July 26, 2007 of a heart attack.