Behar Shtylla (1918-1994), teacher, civil servant, member of parliament, diplomat and minister of the Albanian state, was born in Kolonjë. He finished the French Lyceum of Korça. From the age of 17, he engaged in intense literary activity as a literary critic, under the pseudonym Bardhi Shtylla, in the newspapers “Koha Jonë” and “Shkëndija” in the cities of Korça and Tirana. On June 13, 1940, he benefited from a grant from the Council of Ministers to pursue university studies in Rome in the language and literature department at “La Sapienza” University. In November-December 1942, he was appointed a French language teacher at the high school in Korça. Behar Shtylla developed his most important activity as a diplomat in the field of foreign policy at a difficult moment, when the international reaffirmation of the new Albanian state that had just emerged from the war was required. Until June 1945, he was secretary general of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. In 1945, he was secretary of the Secretariat of the Democratic Front, then general secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the following year, political director of the department. In the years 1954-1982 he was a member of parliament. He was minister of the Albanian state in Rome, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the People’s Assembly and many other state functions. (In the photo: Behar Shtylla)
Text: Diaspora Publications Center
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behar_Shtylla
Graphic processing: AHCF
