Ndue Sinishtaj (August 24, 1944) was an

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

n poet, and former

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

priest from

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

known for writing poems in

Gheg Albanian Gheg or Geg (Gheg Albanian: ''gegnisht'', Standard ) is one of the two major varieties of Albanian, the other being Tosk. The geographic dividing line between the two varieties is the Shkumbin River, which winds its way through central Alba ...

Early life

Sinishtaj was born in

Krševo Krševo ( cyrl, Кршево; ) is a village in the municipality of Tuzi, Montenegro. Demographics According to the 2011 census, its population was 164, all but 5 of them Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Penin ...

(), an Albanian village in the Gruda region near

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

, at the time part of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, but now part of

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He was given his nickname, Nokë, by his family. He hails from the Shytaj brotherhood, a large family which numbered about 60 members, all living together in a big house known as the tower of Shytaj. He is the fourth of thirteen children in the Sinishtaj family. As pastoralism was the family occupation and means of survival, he was a shepherd as a child. He attended elementary school in

Tuzi Tuzi (, ; or ''Tuzi'') is a small town in the central region of Montenegro, and the seat of Tuzi Municipality. It is located along a main road between the city of Podgorica and the Albanian border crossing, just a few kilometers north of Lake S ...

taught by teachers who spoke the Gheg dialect. He continued his education in the city of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

and finished classic high school in Pazinit. He studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at schools in the Balkan cities of

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

and

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

finally moving to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

where he graduated in theology.

Intellectual formation

For Nokë and his family, it was a great honor to be nominated as a Catholic priest and return to Malësia. For five years, Sinishtaj served as a priest in Gusinje, Tuzi, and Hoti. While serving as a priest, he was known for his oratorical skills preaching in church. However, after five years, he left the priesthood to start a family with whom he lives today in Switzerland. In 2000, many years after leaving the priesthood, he published a book which was both an autobiographical diary and a confessional to justify his decision. The book was entitled ''Confessions of a Rebellious Priest''. In this book Sinishtaj recounts the problems he encountered as a priest. It was because of these events, including hostile behavior, and injustices inside the clergy, that caused him to finally leave the priesthood but not his faith in God. However he did not stop studying and in 1975 continued his education in

Philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and Italian Literature at the

University of Fribourg The University of Fribourg (; ) is a public university located in Fribourg, Switzerland. The roots of the university can be traced back to 1580, when the notable Jesuit Peter Canisius founded the Collège Saint-Michel in the City of Fribourg ...

, graduating in 1981. He is currently working as a translator at the Court of

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. He is a

polyglot Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

, speaking:

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 ...

Serbo-Croatian Serbo-Croatian ( / ), also known as Bosnian-Croatian-Montenegrin-Serbian (BCMS), is a South Slavic language and the primary language of Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. It is a pluricentric language with four mutually i ...

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Works

Works in Albanian : * ''Mogilat e Kshevës''” (1976) * ''Te varret e Kshevës'' (At Ksheva graves), poem (1976) * ''Syri i ngujuar'' (Confined eye), poem (1998) * ''Në vend të epitafit'' (Instead of the epitaph), poem (2002) * ''I vetmuar, në kopshtin tim, qaj për të afërmit e mi'' (Alone in my garden, crying over my family), (2002) * ''Spirale'' (Spirals), poem (2003) * ''Rekuiem për fshatin tim'' (Requiem to my village), poem (2005) * ''Tetë letra të Martin Camajt'' (Eight letters of Martin Camaj), (2000) * ''Nga sergjeni i harruar'' (From the forgotten shelf), poem (2007) * ''Rrefimet e një prifti të rebeluar'' (Tales of a rebelled priest), (2000) * ''Kupa e thyer e heshtjes'' (The broken glass of silence), poem (2010) * ''Nën arkada të universit'' (Under the arcade of the universe), poem (2013) Works in Croatian : * ''More mira u nemiru'' (The sea of quitenes in unquietitude ), poem (1974) * ''Nerastočeni mir'' (Nerastoceni peace), poem (1974) * ''Dubrovnik'' (Dubrovnik), poem (1974) * ''Apokalipsa Paška s Prokletia'' (Apocalypse of Paško from Prokletia), novel (1977) Works in Italian * ''Rimani amica'' (Stay friend), poem (1977) Work in German * ''Eingewickelt in sein Schweisstuch'' (Wrapped in his sweat cloth), poem (1994)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinishtaj, Noke 1944 births Living people 20th-century Albanian Roman Catholic priests Albanian male poets Albanian expatriates in Switzerland Albanians in Montenegro 20th-century Albanian poets 21st-century Albanian poets Malsorë Montenegrin expatriates in Switzerland Writers from Podgorica Albanian-language poets German-language poets Croatian-language poets Italian-language poets Croatian-language writers 20th-century Montenegrin writers 21st-century Montenegrin writers Male novelists 20th-century Albanian novelists 21st-century novelists Montenegrin poets Montenegrin male writers Montenegrin novelists 20th-century Albanian male writers 21st-century Albanian male writers