Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Jeronim DE RADA

    Girolamo De Rada (1814-1903), known in Albanian as Jeronim De Rada, is not only the best known writer of Italo-Albanian literature but also the foremost figure of the Albanian nationalist movement in nineteenth-century Italy. Born the son of a parish priest of Greek rite in Macchia Albanese (Alb. Maqi) in the mountains of Cosenza, De…

  • AFTER DEATH – (1910)

    AFTER DEATH (PAS VDEKJES) A one-act comedy Andon Zako ÇAJUPI – to the memory of the late Nikol Duçi, nationalist activist of the past – Characters: Miss Lulushe – a school mistress for girls Mr Adham-Uti – a healer and a writer Mr Vurko – a journalist Zeneli – an employee at the Salonica Club headed by Skëndo Bey…

  • Andon Zako ÇAJUPI

    Andon Zako Çajupi (1866-1930) was born in Sheper, a village in the Upper Zagoria region of southern Albania, as the son of a rich tobacco merchant, Harito Çako, who did business in Kavala and Egypt. The young Andon Zako, who usually preferred this spelling of his surname and was later to adopt the pseudonym Çajupi,…

  • Aleks Stavre Drenova

    Asdreni (1872-1947), pseudonym of Aleks Stavre Drenova, was born in the village of Drenova, about five kilometers from Korça in southeastern Albania. He attended a Greek-language elementary school in his native village and had just begun high school in Korça when his widowed father died, leaving the thirteen-year-old Aleks an orphan. In the autumn of…

  • English – Albanian Dictionary

    The English Albanian dictionary has been online since 2016. It has over 45 thousands lemmas, over 100 thousands translations, about 25 thousand pronunciations, over 5 thousands expressions and 40 categories. You can access the dictionary here

  • Nexhmedin Zajmi

    Nexhmedin Zajmi (1916-1991) was born in Trebisht in the Dibra region. In 1931, he attended the American Vocational School in Tirana, where he studied agriculture and, later, art. He finished his schooling in 1938 and went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he graduated in 1943.

  • Spiro Xega

    Spiro Xega (1876-1953), one of the early figures of Albanian painting, was born in Opar in the Korça region of southeastern Albania. He spent his early years in Turkey, where he learned to draw and paint, though without formal professional training.

  • Simon Rrota

    Simon Rrota (1887-1961) was born in Shkodra and was educated by the Franciscans. He learned to draw and paint under Kolë Idromeno. He studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts in Milan until 1915 and later travelled in France.

  • Vangjush Mio

    Vangjush Mio (1891-1957) is regarded as the finest Albanian landscape painter of the twentieth century. He was born in Korça and moved with his brother to Bucharest, Romania, in 1908, where, in 1915, he studied at the national school of fine arts. He finished his training there in 1919. In the same year, he opened…

  • Guri Madhi

    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’),

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