Azem Shkreli (; sh, Азем Шкрељи, Azem Škrelji; 10 February 1938 – 27 May 1997) was a

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n writer, poet, director and producer of Albanian ethnicity. He was head of the Kosovo Writers' Association, president of the

Association of Writers of Yugoslavia The Association of Writers of Yugoslavia or the Yugoslav Writer's Union ( sh, Savez književnika Jugoslavije, sl, Zveza književnikov Jugoslavije, mk, Сојузот на писателите на Југославија) was an umbrella organisa ...

, manager of the

National Theatre of Kosovo The National Theatre of Kosovo ( sq, Teatri Kombëtar; sr, Narodno pozorište, script=Latn / ) was founded in 1946 in the city of Prizren, Kosovo. It is the highest ranked theatre institution in the country, with the largest number of produc ...

(then ''People`s Provincial Theatre'') in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

and founder and manager of Kosovafilm, a film production, distribution and screening company.

Biography

Azem Shkreli was born on February 10, 1938, in

Peć Peja (Definiteness, Indefinite Albanian language, Albanian Albanian morphology#Nouns (declension), form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest List of cities and towns in Kosovo, city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipali ...

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

(now

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

). He lost his mother when he was two years old, and was brought up by his grandmother, who also died when he was a young boy. He went to elementary school in his hometown, and in

, he attended high school and graduated in 1961, and then went to the Faculty of Philosophy of the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the K ...

, to study in the Department of Albanian Language and Literature Studies, from which he graduated in 1965. As a student, he began writing for the daily newspaper ''

Rilindja The Albanian National Awakening ( sq, Rilindja or ), commonly known as the Albanian Renaissance or Albanian Revival, is a period throughout the 19th and 20th century of a cultural, political and social movement in the Albanian history where the ...

'' and served as head of the Kosovo Writers' Association. He worked as director of the

(then ''People's Provincial Theatre'') from 1960 to 1975 and in 1975 he became founder and director of Kosovafilm, a film production, distribution and screening company – a post he held until he was expelled by the new Serb administration in 1991. He was the president of the

between 1982 and 1983.

References

External links

1938 births 1997 deaths People from Peja {{Albania-writer-stub