Jusuf Vrioni (16 March 1916 – 1 June 2001) was an Albanian athlete, translator, diplomat, and Albanian ambassador to

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

. Vrioni was born in Corfu, Greece, on 16 March 1916, son of

Ilias Bey Vrioni Ilias bej Vrioni (1 January 1882 – 12 March 1932) was an Albanian politician and landowner. He was one of the signatories of the Albanian Declaration of Independence and served as Prime Minister of Albania three times. Biography Ilias Vri ...

. He spent his youth in Corfu and later in

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...

. With the assignment of his father as Ambassador to France, he moved to Paris in 1925. Vrioni studied in the Janson de Sailly Lyceum, Paris, and later in the

Grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles offer teaching, research and professional training in s ...

des hautes études commerciales de Paris, and

Institut d'études politiques An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes can ...

of Paris. Vrioni returned to Albania in 1939, leaving again for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

after the

Italian invasion of Albania The Italian invasion of Albania (April 7–12, 1939) was a brief military campaign which was launched by the Kingdom of Italy against the Albanian Kingdom in 1939. The conflict was a result of the imperialistic policies of the Italian prime m ...

. He returned to

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 1943. On 13 September 1947 he was arrested by the communists and finally in 1950 got a 15-year sentence with forced hard-labor. He was released in late 1958 and interned in

Fier Fier (; sq-definite, Fieri) is the seventh most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Fier County and Fier Municipality. It is situated on the bank of Gjanica River in the Myzeqe Plain between the Seman in the north, the Vjos ...

. In 1960, due to his knowledge of foreign languages he started working as translator in Tirana. He distinguished himself as a '' francophone'' and got respect through the intellectual and artistic circles of that time. He is noted for turning out French translations of a number of novels by

Ismail Kadare Ismail Kadare (; spelled Ismaïl Kadaré in French; born on 28 January 1936) is an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. He is a leading international literary figure and intellectual. He focused on poetry until the pu ...

, which were then rendered into English from Vrioni's translations. After the fall of communism in Albania, Vrioni started working as Director of the Albanian

Helsinki Committee for Human Rights The Helsinki Committees for Human Rights exist in many European countries (the OSCE region) as volunteer, non-profit organizations devoted to human rights and presumably named after the Helsinki Accords. Formerly organized into the International ...

. Following the turmoils of 1997 in Albania, he left for Paris. In 1998 he was assigned as Representative of Albania at UNESCO. On 22 May 1998, he received the title

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

from the French authorities. Vrioni died in Paris on 1 June 2001 at the age of 85. On 18 June 2001, Vrioni was given the title "Honorary Citizen" of Berat. As a sign of appreciation for Vrioni's work, Albanian Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Sports created a special prize named after him. A street in Tirana, Albania is named after him.

References

External links

Jusuf Vrioni: Back to Tirana, 1943–1947
* ttp://www.hri.org/news/balkans/ata/1998/98-05-22.ata.html#27 Distinguished translator awarded Knight of Legion of Honour 20th-century Albanian politicians 21st-century Albanian politicians Albanian translators Albanian–French translators 1916 births 2001 deaths Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur 20th-century translators Isuf People from Berat Permanent Delegates of Albania to UNESCO {{Albania-diplomat-stub