In Naples (Italy), Pjetër Arbnori, Speaker of the Assembly of Albania in the years 1992-1997, political activist, writer, Teacher of the People, passed away. He was born in Durrës, in 1935. After finishing high school (1953), he started working as a teacher in Shkodër and Dukagjin, but in 1958 he was fired for political reasons and was forced to work as a laborer. He was among the initiators of the establishment of an illegal social democratic group, which was discovered by the State Security. In 1961, he was arrested and sentenced to death. Later, the sentence was commuted to 25 years. In 1979, he was re-sentenced with another 10 years for his literary activity. He was released from prison after 28 years, in August 1989. In January 1990, he participated in the anti-communist demonstration in Shkodër. That same year, he was among the founders of the Democratic Party of Albania and among the activists of the movement to overthrow the communist dictatorship. As a deputy in the years 1991-2001 and Speaker of the Assembly, he played an important role for the consolidation of democracy and for the establishment of inter-parliamentary cooperation relations with many countries. As a writer, he has worked on novels and short stories. His literary work spanning several volumes was mostly created during the difficult years of imprisonment in Burrel, but it was only published after the overthrow of the dictatorship. He has published the novels “Mugujt e mesjetës” (Echoes of the Middle Ages) (1993), “E bardha dhe e zeza” (The White and the Black) (1995), ” Shtëpia e mbetur përgjysmë” (The Half-Remaining House) (1997), “Vorbulla” (The Bubble) (1997), “Brajtoni, një vetëtimë e largët” (Brighton, a Distant Lightning) (2000); the novellas “Kur dynden vikingët” (When the Vikings rush) (1993), “10300 ditë e net në burgjet komuniste” (10300 Days and Nights in Communist Prisons) (2003), etc. He was a member of the Presidium of the Writers’ and Artists’ League of Albania. He held the decoration “Grand Officer of the Order of the Pleiades” and the orders: “Mother Teresa”, “Gjergj Kastrioti Skenderbeu”, “Torch of Democracy”. (In the photo: Pjeter Arbnori)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 1 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2008, page 92-93.
Photo: © https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pjet%C3%ABr_Arbnori
Graphic processing: AHCF
