Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare (1936-2024) was born in the Albanian city of Gjirokastra and studied literature in Tirana and Moscow. He lived in Tirana until 1990, afterwards he divided his time between Tirana and Paris. He achieved his literary breakthrough with the novel Gjenerali i ushtrisë së vdekur (The General of the Dead Army), which was turned into a film in France with Marcello Mastroianni and Michel Piccoli. He was a member of many academies. Kadare received numerous accolades for his work, including the inaugural International Booker Prize (2005) and the Prince of Asturias Award (2009). His novels have been translated into more than thirty languages. Kadare passed away in Tirana on 1 Juy 2024.