In Tirana, Haki Stërmilli, patriotic writer and democrat, passed away. He was born in Dibër e Madhe, in 1895. He finished the Turkish high school in Manastir. In the years 1920-1924, he joined the democratic movement and became one of the leaders of the “Bashkimi” society. After the failure of the Democratic Revolution of June 1924, he stayed as a political emigrant in Italy, Austria, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and elsewhere and continued the fight against Zogu’s government by collaborating on the pages of the newspapers “Liria kombëtare” (“The National Freedom”) and “Federacioni Ballkanik” (“The Balkan Federation”). In 1930, the Yugoslav police handed over Haki Stërmilli to the authorities of Ahmet Zogu, who sentenced him to imprisonment. Haki Stërmilli participated in the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War; was a member of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council and deputy of the People’s Assembly in the years 1945-1953. He made his first steps in literature at the beginning of the 20s with the plays “Dibrania e mjerueshme” (“The Misreable Dibrania”), 1923; “Dashuni e besnikri” (“Love and loyalty”), 1923, etc., in which the resistance of the dibrans against the Serbian chauvinists is echoed. His best-known work is the novel “Sikur t’isha djalë” (“If I were a boy”) (1936), where family despotism, the ruling moral norms that suppressed the personality of Albanian women are severely criticized. The novel was well received by the reader and quickly became one of the most read works of the time. In 1967, the novel “Kalorësi i Skënderbeut” (“The knight of Skanderbeg”) was published. In both of these works, the author made an effort for a true reflection of life, but he did not escape a sentimental spirit. During the war years, he kept a diary, which was published under the title “Shtigjeve të lirisë ” (“Paths of freedom”) (1966), with significant literary value. In it, the author tells about important events of the Anti-Fascist National Liberation War in 1943-1944 and about the patriotism and heroism of the people. The literary work of Haki Stërmilli is summarized in three volumes (1982-1983). (In the photo: Haki Stërmilli)
Text: Albanian encyclopedic dictionary – Vol. 3 , Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH”, Tirana, 2009, page 2397-2398.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haki_St%C3%ABrmilli
Graphic processing: AHCF
