Dhimitër Pasko was an Albanian writer and translator. Dhimitër Pasko studied at a foreign language school in Greece, later moving to Bucharest where, in 1934, he graduated with a doctorate in economics.
While in Bucharest he became a journalist with the Albanian weekly newspaper Shqipëri' e re (New Albania), using the pseudonym Janus. In 1937 he published Lasgush Poradeci's collection of verse, Ylli i zemrës (The Star of the heart), and the following year, the first edition of his first authored book, Nete shqipëtare (Albanian nights), a compilation of eight tales of village life from his native Pogradec. This edition was largely detroyed by a fire, and only became widely read through a second edition published in 1944.
He returned to Albania in 1942, and during WWII wrote and self-published most of his major works. At the end of the war he founded the short-lived literary periodical, Revista letrare (Literary Review), with Nexhat Hakiu, Vedat Kokona and Sterjo Spasse, joined the editorial board of Bota e re (New World), the first Albanian post-war literary journal, and became a founding member of the Albanian League of Writers and Artists.
Dhimitër Pasko died of a heart attack in 1967, leaving a novel on an Illyrian theme unfinished. The Albanian Communist Party took power after WWII, but by 1947 was in the control of Yugoslavia. Pasko, an official Albanian delegate to Yugoslavia, disapproved of a proposed currency and customs union agreed between the two countries, and of a Serbian re-occupation of Kosovo; an earlier 1944 Pasko poem, "Poem kosovar" (Kosovar poem), asserted his criticism of Serbian actions. Upon the Albanian delegation's return from Yugoslavia, Pasko was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for his criticism, during which he attempted suicide. Following the freeing of Yugoslavia's hold over Albanian party politics, Pasko was released and worked as a translator for Naim Frashëri, the state-owned Tirana publishing company.
Pasko, as with other Albanian writers of the time, accommodated the imposed cultural doctrine of Zhdanovism by translating Soviet-approved Russian authors, although he found himself able to translate his favourite Russian, Romanian, and Spanish writers, publish tales and verse for children, and adapt Albanian oral verse to prose.
One of the best books I have ever read! Thank you Mitrush Kuteli for writing in an extraordinary way! Bravo! My hat goes off to you Sir! God Bless! ✝️❤️
Tregime të moçme shqiptare nga Mitrush Kuteli është një përmbledhje tregimesh që, ndonëse të strukturuara si përralla për fëmijë, mbartin një thellësi të madhe dhe mund të lexohen me kënaqësi edhe nga të rriturit. Këto tregime shërbejnë si një pasqyrë e vlerave tradicionale shqiptare, ku gjejmë zakonet e lashta, besën, trimërinë, respektin për familjen dhe dinjitetin – vlera themelore për mbijetesën dhe identitetin e shqiptarëve ndër shekuj. Përmes një gjuhe të pasur dhe poetike, Kuteli përdor simbolikën, hiperbolën dhe alegorinë, duke krijuar personazhe që shpesh përfaqësojnë ideale të mëdha si drejtësia, bujaria apo forca morale. Po ashtu, përdorimi i përsëritjeve dhe ritmit të rrëfimit gojor e lidhin këto tregime me traditën e rrëfimeve epike. Krijimtaria e Kutelit jo vetëm që na ofron një dritare në të kaluarën e popullit tonë, por gjithashtu përfaqëson një përpjekje për të ruajtur dhe përjetësuar trashëgiminë shpirtërore shqiptare. Kjo e bën këtë libër një trashëgimi të rëndësishme kulturore, që mbetet e vlefshme për brezat e sotëm dhe të ardhshëm.
reading this makes me thing how rich and truly extinct albanian culture is, to the point of desperation to know more through writing these adaptations of countless northern legends! SIMPLY AMAZING!
Had to read this for school. I think that makes a fair enough point. It is culturally important i guess, so if you're reading this, good for you, buddy!