Milto Sotir Gurra (1884–1972) was an Albanian journalist and

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer of the 20th century. His first works came out during the last period of the

Albanian National Awakening 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 continued for a 50-year period. Although simple in character and at times permeated by naive sentimentality, his work reserves a certain importance in Albanian literature due to its social context and thematics. Gurra also translated to Albanian some of the masterpieces of classic Russian literature.

Life and work

Gurra was born on 16 May 1884 in Marjan village of the Opar region near

Korçë Korçë (; sq-definite, Korça) is the eighth most populous city of the Republic of Albania and the seat of Korçë County and Korçë Municipality. The total population is 75,994 (2011 census), in a total area of . It stands on a plateau som ...

, back then part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, today's southeastern Albania. As many southern Albanians, he had to emigrate at a young age. Gurra settled initially in Odessa, and later in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and h ...

, Constanța, and the United States. He collaborated with the local established Albanian communities and their press organs using the pen-names "Nomadhi", "Gjon Zeza", and "D.Toçka". His initial literature work consisted of short stories. They were periodically published in the ''Shqiperia'' (Albania) journal of Kristo Luarasi in Sofia,

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, and were later compiled in two story collections in 1911: ''Goca e Malësisë'' (The Highland Girl) and ''Rrëfenja'' (Narrations). His best stories are considered to be the ones written while residing in Odessa. Gurra published or co-published also his own journals, such as ''Atdheu'' (The homeland) published in Constanța,

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

in 1912, the monthly ''Shkëndija'' (The sparkle) of 1921 in Korçë, ''Zekthi'' (The gadfly), a satiric paper, and ''Zëri i Popullit'' (The voice of the people), a bi-monthly social-political journal, started in 1922 in Korçë, ''Mituria'' (The childhood), and ''Vatra a Rinisë'' (Hearth of Youth) where he published pieces written for children. As a journalist, he published articles in the Albanian communities' newspapers, such as ''

Dielli ''Dielli'' is a newspaper published in the United States by Vatra, the Pan-Albanian Federation of America. History ''Dielli'' started on February 15, 1909, as a political-patriotic newspaper of the Besa-Besën society of Boston, Massachusetts, on ...

'' (The sun), ''Kombi'' (The nation), ''Bashkimi i Kombit'' (Nation's Unity), '' Shqypeja e Shqypenis'', etc. He translated Russian literature works from

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

Turgenev Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev (; rus, links=no, Ива́н Серге́евич Турге́невIn Turgenev's day, his name was written ., p=ɪˈvan sʲɪrˈɡʲe(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ tʊrˈɡʲenʲɪf; 9 November 1818 – 3 September 1883 (Old Style dat ...

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

, and Gorky. Gurra died 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 1972.

Writing style

Gurra's writing activity spans in around 50 years. His initial work expressed a mixture of

Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

and Romantic ideas conform the general line of the National Awakening, like many other Albanian writers and poets of the same era. Later works would be characterized by sentimentalism. As an emigrant, he was close to the problems and difficulties that the

Albanian diaspora The Albanian diaspora ( sq, Mërgata Shqiptare or Diaspora Shqiptare) are the ethnic Albanians and their descendants living outside of Albania, Kosovo, southeastern Montenegro, western North Macedonia, southeastern Serbia, northwestern Greece a ...

continuously dealt with. He described emigration as a tragedy which had made miserable the lives of many. The short story ''"The mother"'' describes how emigration destroyed families and filled people's lives with anxiety. Loneliness and the unhappy lives of the emigrants families is the theme of the short stories ''"The death of Mara"'' and ''"The belated cheque"''. In a number of stories, such as ''"Life after death"'', Gurra described the life of big cities, and how the lights and pleasures ruined many young emigrants. A collection of 22 of these stories were published in Tirana in 1938 under the name ''Plagët e Kurbetit'' (Torments of exile), where he also shows influence from O.Henry and

Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

. Beside prose, Gurra left also a poetic collection named ''Dëshirë'' (Desire). The Albanian composer

Kristo Kono Kristo Kono (17 July 1907 – 22 January 1991) was an Albanian composer and recipient of the People's Artist title in 1961, the highest artistic recognition title during the communist era. He was one of the early contributors to Albanian music ...

used some of Gurra's poetry and composed songs, such as ''Fol e qesh moj sylarushe'' (Talk and laugh o you bright eyed girl"), which entered the classic reportorial of the urban lyric music in Albania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gurra, Milto Sotir 1884 births 1972 deaths People from Manastir vilayet People from Maliq 19th-century Albanian people Albanian male short story writers Albanian short story writers Albanian male poets Albanian children's writers 20th-century Albanian poets Albanian journalists Albanian publishers (people) Albanian translators 20th-century translators Russian–Albanian translators Albanian expatriates in Ukraine Albanian expatriates in Romania Albanian expatriates in Bulgaria Albanian expatriates in the United States Activists of the Albanian National Awakening Eastern Orthodox Christians from Albania Members of the Albanian Orthodox Church 20th-century short story writers 20th-century male writers 20th-century journalists