Aleksander "Sandër" Prosi (6 January 1920 – 24 March 1985; rup, Sandãr Prosi) was an Albanian film and theater actor and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

player. He was given the People's Artist of Albania award by the Albanian government. He is considered one of the greatest Albanian actors of all times.

Life and work

Prosi was born in Shkodër, Albania, in January 1920. His family moved 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 ...

when he was 14, where he graduated at

Qemal Stafa High School The Qemal Stafa High School is a high school, located in Tirana, Albania. Founded in 1925 by Prime Minister Ahmet Zogu, as the ''Lyceum of Tirana'', it has many notable alumni, of whom 75 died in World War II and 14 were awarded the title People ...

. Prosi's father was originally from

Moscopole Moscopole or Voskopoja ( sq, Voskopojë; rup, Moscopole, with several other variants; el, Μοσχόπολις, Moschopolis) is a village in Korçë County in southeastern Albania. During the 18th century, it was the cultural and commercial ...

and was an Aromanian, which made him of Aromanian descent too. His first role was in

William Tell William Tell (german: Wilhelm Tell, ; french: Guillaume Tell; it, Guglielmo Tell; rm, Guglielm Tell) is a folk hero of Switzerland. According to the legend, Tell was an expert mountain climber and marksman with a crossbow who assassinated Albr ...

drama from Schiller. He went to study dentistry in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, Austria, but did not finish his studies. In 1947, he participates in the competition at the

National Theatre of Albania The National Theatre of Albania ( sq, Teatri Kombëtar) was the main theatre in Tirana, Albania. In March 2020, the National Theatre of Albania was selected by Europa Nostra among the 7 most endangered monuments in Europe, as an exceptional exam ...

and wins. He has interpreted more than 100 roles in the theater and in movies. He has created unforgettable characters such as ''Vuksani'' in "The second face" ( sq, link=no, Fytyra e dytë), ''Horatio'' in

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

, ''Otello'' in Otello, ''Miller'' in

Intrigue and Love ''Intrigue and Love'', sometimes ''Love and Intrigue'', ''Love and Politics'' or ''Luise Miller'' (german: Kabale und Liebe, ; literally "''Cabal and Love''") is a five-act play written by the German dramatist Friedrich Schiller. His third play, ...

from Schiller, ''Dhaskal Todri'' in "Letter's way" ( sq, link=no, Udha e shkronjave),

Ismail Qemali Ismail Qemal bey Vlora, mostly known as Ismail Qemali (; 16 January 184426 January 1919), was an Albanian diplomat, politician, rilindas, statesman and the Founding Father of modern Albania, and one of the most famous Southern Albanian perso ...

in "Second November" ( sq, link=no, Nëntori i Dytë), etc. He was a professor in the Academy of Arts of Albania during 1962—1975. His death in 1985 created many controversies in Albania, as it was talked as a suicide, these were just never proved gossips, and the media never reported his end of life as such. In 2010, Prosi was awarded the Honor of the Nation title ( sq, link=no, Nder i Kombit) by the President of the Republic of Albania.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prosi, Sander Albanian male stage actors 1920 births People from Shkodër Albanian people of Aromanian descent Aromanian actors 1985 deaths Albanian male film actors People's Artists of Albania Qemal Stafa High School alumni 20th-century Albanian male actors People from Tirana 1985 suicides Suicides in Albania