Çezar Kurti (1935 – 10 December 2013) was an Albanian translator, known for his many contributions to Albanian literature.

Biography

Çezar Kurti was born in

Kavajë Kavajë ( , sq-definite, Kavaja) is a city and municipality centrally located in the Western Lowlands region of Albania, in Tirana County. It borders Durrës to the north , Tirana, Tiranë to the east and Rrogozhinë to the south . To the west ...

, Albania, in 1935. After completing his studies in

Russian language Russian is an East Slavic languages, East Slavic language belonging to the Balto-Slavic languages, Balto-Slavic branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family. It is one of the four extant East Slavic languages, and is ...

and literature, Mr. Kurti worked as an editor/translator for the Albanian Telegraphic Agency. He was appointed professor of Russian at the

University of Tirana The University of Tirana (, abbreviated UT) is a public university located at the central borough of Tirana 10 in Tirana, Albania. It was established as the State University of Tirana (SUT) in 1957 through merging of five existing institutes ...

and became Chairman of the Russian Department there. In 1976, charged with disseminating

anticommunist Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism, communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global ...

propaganda, professor Kurti was dismissed from the University and was sent to the copper mines of

Kurbnesh Kurbnesh is a village in the municipality of Mirditë, in Lezhë County, Albania. , Kurbnesh had a population of 358 people. History Kurbnesh was founded as a mining community sometime in the late 1950s and early 1960s. During this period, min ...

, in

Mirdita Mirdita is a region of northern Albania whose territory is synonymous with the historic Albanian tribe of the same name. Etymology The name Mirdita derives from a legendary ancestor named Mir Diti from whom the tribe claims descent. Other a ...

. From 1976, when he published his Albanian translation of

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. He is best known for his trilogy of novels collectively called '' The Forsyte Saga'', and two later trilogies, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of th ...

's ''The Forsyte Salvation'', until 1985, professor Kurti was not allowed to publish his work. With the help of his friends, he published his Albanian translation of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

's ''

Prometheus Bound ''Prometheus Bound'' () is an ancient Greek tragedy traditionally attributed to Aeschylus and thought to have been composed sometime between 479 BC and the terminus ante quem of 424 BC. The tragedy is based on the myth of Prometheus, ...

'' and

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

's ''

Wind, Sand and Stars ''Wind, Sand and Stars'' (French title: ''Terre des hommes'', literally "Land of Men") is a memoir by the French aristocrat aviator-writer Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and a winner of several literary awards. It was first published in France in F ...

''. In 1989, he edited

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

''. In 1992 he co-authored the English-Albanian Polytechnical Vocabulary. In 1993 he published a translation of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's sonnets into Albanian and in 1994, F. Dostoyevsky's '' Records from the House of the Dead''. His verse translation of

Dante Dante Alighieri (; most likely baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri; – September 14, 1321), widely known mononymously as Dante, was an Italian Italian poetry, poet, writer, and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called ...

's '' Inferno'' has been published only in excerpts. In 1998 he has also published ''Bashkebisedues Shqip anglisht'' (''Albanian–English Conversations''). Kurti focused on translating works by poets and writers such as Aeschylus, Dante, Dostoyevsky, Chalamov, and

Havel The Havel () is a river in northeastern Germany, flowing through the States of Germany, states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. The long Havel is a right tributary of the Elbe. However, the direct distance from ...

to underscore his opposition to the violence exercised against human rights in his country and to contribute to the establishment of democratic thinking in Albania. Kurti later resided in New York City, where he continued to write and translate works into Albanian. His book ''Learn Albanian'' sold in record numbers. His books are used in several American and British universities. Çezar Kurti died on 10 December 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kurti, Cezar 1935 births 2013 deaths Albanian translators English–Albanian translators