In Pogradec, Lasgush Poradeci was born, a lyric poet and translator. Lasgush Poradeci is the literary pseudonym of Llazar Sotir Gusho. He received his first lessons in his hometown, in both Greek and Albanian schools, continuing his education at a Romanian school in Manastir. He completed his secondary education at a French high school in Athens. He then settled in Bucharest, where he began his higher education in several faculties, initially in the field of painting. During his time in Bucharest, he was elected secretary-general of the Albanian Colony of Romania. In 1924, he moved to Austria, where he began his higher studies at the Faculty of Romano-Germanic Philology at the University of Graz, defending his doctoral thesis on “The Poetry of Eminescu and its Connections with Folk Poetry”. In 1934, he returned to his homeland and worked as an art teacher at the Tirana High School. His first poems, written in the spirit of folk poetry, belong to the age of 9-10. His intellectual and philosophical formation later endowed his poetry with depth of thought and a broad cultural foundation, ranging from ancient traditions and Eastern cultures to contemporary modern poetry. In the 1920s and 1930s, Lasgush Poradeci published his lyrics in various newspapers of the time, becoming one of the most recognized and original voices of modern Albanian poetry. In 1933, in Romania, with the special interest and care of the Albanian diaspora there, especially his friends Asdreni and Mitrush Kuteli, he would see the publication of the volume “Vallja e Yjeve” (“Dance of the Stars”), which included poems written and published between 1921 and 1924. In the 1930s and 1940s, Lasgush Poradeci continued to write and publish in several periodicals of the time. In the post-war years, he focused mainly on translation. Despite the prevailing patriotic themes in poetry, Lasgush stood out with his poetry of love. His works also include philosophical and landscape lyrics. He wrote fewer patriotic poems and occasionally intertwined ideas and positions on social issues. Some of his poems can be considered as genuine landscape poetry. The poems centered around the lake are among the most beautiful. Lasgush Poradeci, like few others, has spiritualized this element of nature, establishing an inseparable connection between his poetic spirit and the heart of the “lake.” His concept of nature reflects the gift of a painter, a gift that he nurtured and developed. In Lasgush’s poetry, characteristics related to other directions and influences can also be observed, such as symbolism, evident in the poet’s meticulous attention to the musical effects of verse and the use of a symbolic nature inspired by symbolist poets. Lasgush Poradeci’s philosophical lyrics encompass universal themes and motives, from creation and the relationship between God and man to death and eternity. After liberation, Lasgush Poradeci worked as a professional literary translator at the publishing house “Naim Frashëri,” leading a somewhat withdrawn life amidst severe economic difficulties. He passed away in Tirana in 1987. (In the photo: Lasgush Poradeci)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2069-2070.
Photo: © https://www.kultplus.com/poezi/lasgush-poradeci-perlotet-duke-folur-per-kosoven-video-2/
Graphic processing: AHCF
