Jusuf Vrioni, translator of Albanian literature into French, passed away in Tirana. He was born in Corfu, Greece, in 1916. He spent his youth in Paris, where his father, Iliaz Vrioni, was the ambassador of the Albanian state. He graduated in jurisprudence and political science (1938). In the summer of 1943, he returned to Albania. In 1947, he was arrested and suffered a long political imprisonment. After his release from prison (1959), he worked on translations from Albanian to French. He became known for his masterful translations, mainly of the work of Ismail Kadare in the French language. In 1997, he was appointed ambassador of Albania to UNESCO, and in 1998, he published in France his autobiography in French, “Mondes effacés – Souvenirs d’un Evropéen” (“Extinct worlds – memories of a European”). He was decorated with the Order “Grand Master of Work” and by the French state with the Orders Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (“Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters”) and Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur ( “Knight of the Legion of Honor”). (In the photo: Jusuf Vrioni)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2922-2923.
Photo: © http://www.albanianhistory.net/1998_Vrioni/index.html
Graphic processing: AHCF
