Academician Rexhep Qosja has passed away at the age of 89.
Qosja was one of the most important figures in Albanian thought and literature, with a long academic, literary, and public career in Kosovo and beyond.
He was born on June 25, 1936, in Vuthaj and was educated as a scholar of Albanian literature in Pristina and Belgrade, where he completed his university studies and doctorate. Since the 1960s, he was engaged with the Institute of Albanology of Pristina, where he later became director, as well as a professor at the University of Pristina.
Qosja authored dozens of works in literary criticism, Albanological studies, essays, drama, and fiction. Among his most well-known novels are Vdekja më vjen prej syve të tillë, Një dashuri dhe shtatë faje, Nata është dita jonë, and Bijtë e askujt. He is considered one of the key voices in the modernization of Albanian drama in the 1970s.
He was also involved in political activity; during the period 1998–2000, he led a political party in Kosovo. In 2000, he was awarded the “Honor of the Nation” title by the President of Albania.
Qosja was particularly engaged in issues of Albanian national identity, entering well-known debates with Ismail Kadareover the European and cultural identity of Albanians.
In addition to his literary and academic work, he was active in Kosovo’s political life during the 1990s, organizing intellectual forums and participating in the Rambouillet Conference process during the war. After the war, he was part of political advisory structures in Kosovo.
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