Ismail Kadare, the celebrated author whose books took on political oppression in his native Albania, died Monday at 88, the New York Times reports.
Kadare was born in the Albanian city of Gjirokastër in 1936; he was a child when the country was occupied by Italy, which ran the nation for six years before it was taken over by a totalitarian communist dictatorship. He lived in Albania for decades before defecting to Paris in 1990.
He wrote poetry and fiction before making his literary breakthrough in 1963 with the novel The General of the Dead Army. Several more books would follow, many criticizing the Albanian government, including The Palace of Dreams, The Concert, and Agamemnon’s Daughter. In 2005, he became the first writer ever to win the International Booker Prize, at the time given to an author in recognition of their complete body of work.
His most recent book to be published in English, A Dictator Calls, translated by John Hodgson, was released last year.
The Associated Press reports that Albanian President Bajram Begaj said in a statement, “Albania and Albanians lost their genius of letters, their spiritual emancipator, the Balkans [lost] the poet of its myths, Europe and the world [lost] one of the most renowned representatives of modern literature.”
Kadare’s admirers paid tribute to him on social media. On the platform X, professor Elidor Mëhilli wrote, “Farewell Ismail Kadare: Your books were rare mental exit windows in tragic, dark, inhumane times. One of the last of his kind in East Central Europe. Hard to convey to outsiders what he meant to generations of us. No obituary can do you justice. You live in our imagination.”
And Vjosa Osmani, the president of Kosovo, posted, “Through his works, he fearlessly championed the Albanian language, culture, as well as the right of the people of Kosovo to live in freedom. Our hearts go out to his family and to all who cherished our giant’s remarkable legacy.”
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
