Din Mehmeti (1932 – 12 November 2010) 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 from

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 was among the best-known classical representatives of contemporary verse in Kosovo.

Career

He was born in 1932 in the village of Gjocaj,

Junik Junik ( sq, Junik, sq-definite, Juniku; sr, Јуник, Junik) is a town located in Junik Municipality in the Gjakova District in western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Junik has 6,053 inhabitants, while the municipality has ...

, near

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 ...

. He studied

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 ...

and literature at 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 ...

. He later lectured at the teacher training college in Gjakova. Although he has published some prose, literary criticism and a play, he is known primarily for his figurative poetry which has appeared in fifteen volumes between 1961 and 1999. Mehmeti's verse is one of indigenous sensitivity. He relies on many of the figures, metaphors and symbols of northern Albanian popular verse to imbue and stabilize his restless lyrics with the stoic vision of the mountain tribes. Despite the light breeze of romanticism which wafts through his verse, as critic

Rexhep Qosja Rexhep Qosja (born 1936) is an Albanian writer and literary critic from a part of Malësia in modern Montenegro (where locally the region is known as ''Malesija''). Life and career He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Pristina (19 ...

once put it, this creative assimilation of folklore remains strongly fused with a realist current, at times ironic, which takes its roots in part from the ethics of revolt in the tradition of

Migjeni Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (; 13 October 191126 August 1938), commonly known by the acronym pen name Migjeni, was an Albanian poet and writer, considered one of the most important of the 20th century. After his death, he was recognized as one of th ...

and

Esad Mekuli Esad Mekuli ( sr-cyrl, Есад Мекули; 17 December 1916, – 6 August 1993) was an Albanian poet, critic and translator. He was the first president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. Robert Elsie considered him the father o ...

. Mehmeti's poetic restlessness is, nonetheless, not focused on messianic protest or social criticism but on artistic creativity and individual perfection.

Bibliography

*Në krahët e shkrepave (1961) *Rini diellore (1966) *Dridhjet e dritës (1969) *Heshtja e kallur (1972) *Fanar në furtuna (1981) *Agu, dramë (1982) *Prapë fillimi (1996) *Klithmë është emri im (

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 ...

, 2002) *Mos vdis kur vdiset (2001)

Annotations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehmeti, Din Kosovan poets 1932 births University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy alumni 2010 deaths Writers from Gjakova Kosovo Albanians Albanian-language poets 20th-century poets