Ali Asllani, poet, was born in Vlora. He was born in a family originating from the village of Vajzë. He received his first lessons in his hometown, attended the “Zosimea” high school in Ioannina and completed his higher studies in Istanbul at the Institute of Administrative, Political and Social Sciences. After graduation (1906), he dedicated himself to an administrative career, first in the administration of the Ottoman Empire and after November 28, 1912, in the service of the Albanian state. He was mayor of the Municipality of Vlora in the years 1918-1920 and then 1934-1939. He also contributed to the diplomatic services, as a consul in Trieste, in Sofia and then as a minister in charge of the Greek state. After liberation, he was one of the founders of the League of Writers. Worked as a translator for several years. Ali Asllani first began to recite poems in Turkish (when he was in Ioannina). Then he also wrote poems of love and bravery in Albanian. Since 1914, he wrote patriotic poems with a freedom-loving spirit, in which the tones of the Labe song are strongly felt. He published some of these poems such as”Dasma” (“The wedding”), “Fshati Vajzë” (“Vajzë village”), “Gjoni“, “Flamuri” (“The flag”), “Ismail Qemali“, etc. in Albanian magazines. His love poems are permeated by a subtle hint of healthy humor “Zonja Lu” (“Mrs. Lu”) and by a spirit of sorrow and reading in the face of female graces (“Gugu-gugu-guguftu“, “Vishet meni, zhvishet vasha” etc.). The work that made him famous in Albanian literature is the poem “Hanko Halla” (“Aunt Hanko”)(Tirana, 1942). It had a special reception from the reader , not only for the original theme, but also for the humor and freshness of the verse and vivid imagery. The poem deals with the motif of the collision of the old patriarchal world with the new, modern one. The poem was praised for carving the artistic character of Aunt Hanko and for the popular narrative style. He passed away in Tirana, in 1960. (In the photo: Ali Asllani)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 136.
Photo: © https://www.teksteshqip.com/ali-asllani
Graphic processing: AHCF
