Born in Korça, Guri Madhi (1921-1988) took part in the Second World War. From 1950-1956, he studied at the academy of arts in Leningrad, and worked for the ministry of culture on his return to Albania. In the wake of the 1966 purge (‘the struggle against bureaucracy’), Madhi was transferred to Gjirokastra to work at a military garrison for two years, but managed to return to Tirana in 1970. From then on, he was careful to ensure that his works conformed to communist party teachings. Guri Madhi taught art for many years at the Jordan Misja Academy and at the Academy of Fine Arts (Instituti i Lartë i Arteve Figurative) in Tirana, from which he retired in 1983 as one of the best-known painters of his generation. He died in Budapest.
Robert Eslie
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