Besim Bokshi (12 November 1930 – 16 August 2014) was an

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

poet,

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...

and

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

. He served as the president of the

Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo ( sq, Akademia e Shkencave dhe e Arteve e Kosovës, la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Kosoviensis) is the national academy of Kosovo. History & Organization The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo ...

during 2008-2011.

Career

Besim Bokshi was born in

Gjakova Gjakova, ) and Đakovica ( sr-Cyrl, Ђаковица, ) is the seventh largest city of Kosovo and seat of Gjakova Municipality and Gjakova District. The city has 40,827 inhabitants, while the municipality has 94,556 inhabitants. Geographicall ...

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 ...

. His family moved to

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

when he was a child and he finished elementary education in a school in Dukat, a village near

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foothi ...

. A few years later he studied in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

. In 1945, he returned to Gjakova and studied at the Catedra of Albanology of the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade ( sr, / ) is a public university in Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-b ...

until 1959, followed by post-graduate studies on linguistics still in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. During 1961-63, he taught

Albanian language Albanian ( endonym: or ) is an Indo-European language and an independent branch of that family of languages. It is spoken by the Albanians in the Balkans and by the Albanian diaspora, which is generally concentrated in the Americas, Europ ...

in the Gjakova High School, being also its director. From 1967 to 1973, he lectured morphology at the High Pedagogical School in Gjakova, being also its director during 1967-71. During this time, he worked for the Albanological Institute of Pristina for a period of eight months. From 1974, he lectured the "Historical morphology" course in the Albanian Language and Literature branch of the Philological Faculty 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 ...

. In 1977 he finished his doctorate in philology in the University of Pristina. He was a member and president of the

, while in the past he has served as its vice-president. Bokshi was a member of the Conclusions Commission during the Linguistic Consult of Pristina in 1968, a linguistics event on the topic of the orthography standard of the Albanian language. He was also a delegate in the Orthography Congress held in

in November 1973, and in the Southeastern European Studies Congress held in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Turkey in 1978. Bokshi died on 16 August 2014.

Works

Poetry

*In Expectation (''Në Pritje''),

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 ...

, 1966 *Broken Shadows (''Hije të këputura''),

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 ...

, 1996

Linguistics

*Development of the Formation of the Present Nominal Flexion of Albanian (''Rruga e formimit të sotëm nominal të shqipes''), Pristina, 1980 *Postposition of the article in Balkan languages (''Prapavendosja e nyjes në gjuhët ballkanike''), Pristina, 1984 *The Participle in Albanian: A Diachronic View (''Pjesorja e shqipes: vështrim diakronik''), Pristina, 1998 *On Personal Pronouns in Albanian (''Për vetorët e shqipes''), Pristina, 2004.

Sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bokshi, Besim 20th-century Albanian poets 21st-century Albanian poets Kosovan poets University of Belgrade alumni 1932 births 2014 deaths Writers from Gjakova University of Pristina alumni Academic staff of the University of Pristina Kosovo Albanians Kosovan philologists Albanologists Yugoslav Albanians Members of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo