Edi Rama, political activist, prime minister, chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, ex-mayor of Tirana, was born in Tirana. He attended the Jordan Misja Artistic Lyceum and later studied painting at the Institute of Fine Arts (1986), where he was subsequently appointed as a lecturer. He participated in the student movement of 1990, which led to the overthrow of the communist regime and the establishment of political pluralism in Albania. Rama published a number of critical writings on the communist system and the role of intellectuals in a democratic society. In 1995, he won a scholarship to the Cité des Arts in Paris, where he continued his work. From 1998 to 2000, he served as Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sports. Since 2000, he has been the mayor of Tirana and concurrently the chairman of the Association of Albanian Municipalities. In this role, he has implemented a series of reforms and measures that have brought about significant changes and improvements in the city of Tirana. His tenure as mayor of the capital city was recognized with the “World Mayor” title in 2004. In October 2005, he was elected chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania. As a painter, he has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Albania, various European countries, the United States, and Latin America. Under Rama’s leadership as prime minister, Albania was granted candidate status in 2014. Under this leadership, an epochal reform in the justice system began, aiming to cleanse the judiciary of all judges and prosecutors who cannot explain the source of their wealth or who have made arbitrary decisions in the past. In the elections of June 25, 2017, Edi Rama led the Socialists to a second term in government. Following the significant result achieved in the elections, for the first time in 25 years, a political force will govern the country alone, without the need to form a governing coalition. (In the photo: Edi Rama)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2212.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edi_Rama
Graphic processing: AHCF
