Kolec Topalli passed away, a linguist, professor, and People’s Teacher. Born in Shkodër in 1938, he completed high school in his hometown. He pursued higher studies at the Higher Pedagogical Institute in Shkodër and graduated in the Albanian language and literature from the University of Tirana (1964). He worked as a teacher in Kukës, Lezhë, Gramsh, and Krujë. He served as the General Secretary of the President of the Republic (1992–1997), a research scientist at the Institute of Linguistics and Literature (1997–2006), and as a advisor at the Albanian Embassy in Rome (2006–2007). During his years in education, he engaged in linguistic studies, preparing two dissertations (1986, 1991) focusing mainly on issues of historical phonetics in Albanian.He authored monographs such as: “Theksi në gjuhën shqipe” (“Accent in the Albanian Language”) (1995), “Për historinë e hundorësisë së zanoreve në gjuhën shqipe” (“On the History of Nasalization of Vowels in Albanian”) (1996), “Zhvillimi historik i diftongjeve të shqipes” (“The Historical Development of Diphthongs in Albanian”) (1998), “Shndërrime historike në sistemin zanor të gjuhës shqipe” (“Historical Changes in the Vowel System of Albanian”) (2000), “Sonantet e gjuhës shqipe” (“Sonants in the Albanian Language”) (2001), “Mbylltoret e gjuhës shqipe” (“Stops in the Albanian Language”) (2002), “Fërkimoret e afrikatet e gjuhës shqipe” (“Fricatives and Affricates in the Albanian Language”) (2003), “Fonetika historike e gjuhës shqipe” (“Phonetic Phenomena of the Albanian Consonant System”) (2004), Historical Phonetics of the Albanian Language (2005), Research on the History of Accent in Albanian (Cosenza, 2007), and The “Evolucioni historik i përemrave të shqipes” (“Historical Evolution of Albanian Pronouns”)(2008). These works meticulously reviewed previous research, providing original contributions to clarifying many issues. Topalli also published numerous articles in scientific journals abroad. (In the photo: Kolec Topalli)
Text: Albanian Encyclopedic Dictionary – Vol. 3, Academy of Sciences of Albania, “Kristalina-KH,” Tirana, 2009, pp. 2724–2725.
Photo: © Academy of Sciences of Albania
Graphic processing: AHCF
