On the war front against Serbian forces, Gursel Sylejmani, a fighter of the Kosovo Liberation Army, a martyr, was killed. He was born in Sodovinë, in the Jerlive district of Viti, in 1961. After finishing high school, he studied at the High Institute of Art in Skopje. For some time he worked as a fine art teacher. From his youth he was involved in the illegal patriotic movement. He was arrested in December 1982 and sentenced to 8 years in prison. In September 1988, he was imprisoned again. He did not stay long in prison, but he was severely tortured. On March 27, 1989, he was imprisoned for the third time and held for several months in solitary confinement, without a court decision. In the early 90s of the 20th century, he opened his studio in Ferizaj and became an active member of the Association of Artists of Ferizaj “Zef Kolombi“. During this period, he opened a series of individual exhibitions and participated in collective exhibitions. From the beginning he was in contact with the founders of the first units of the Kosovo Liberation Army in the Ferizaj region. He was among the first fighters in the Operative Zone of Nerodime and among the leaders of the war in this area. In 2010, he was decorated by the President of Kosovo with the “Adem Jashari” medal. (In the photo: Gursel Sylejmani)
Text: The encyclopedic dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. II , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 1557–1558.
Graphic processing: AHCF
