Din Mehmeti, poet, passed away. He was born in Gjocaj of Junik (Kosovo), in 1929. He attended primary school in his hometown. He finished the normal school in Gjakovë, while his studies at the University of Belgrade, in the department of Albanian language and literature. He finished his postgraduate studies at the Department of Albanology in the University of Pristina. At first he worked as a journalist in the daily “Rilindja” (“Renaissance”), then a teacher in the normal school and in the high school of Gjakova. Until he retired, he was a professor of popular literature and theory of literature at the Higher Pedagogical School in Gjakova. He published the first poem in 1949, in the literary magazine “Jeta e re” (“The new life”). It was a separate voice, supported and inspired especially by oral literature. From there he felt the echo of the historical drama of his land, his dreams through the seasons. It is worth emphasizing the fact that Din Mehmeti very quickly, from the beginning of his creativity, foresaw that his dream was not coming true as promised and as believed, therefore he was one of the first to sound the alarm through dramatic lyrics about the collective migration of Albanians from Kosovo . He charged this deep, thrilling concern to his verses until the end of his life. Especially during the last ten years of the 20th century, with his last four poetic books, his creative voice showed notes of crying out and resisting the violence that was exercised against his country and his people. He is also the author of prose writings, drama and literary studies, especially from popular literature. His poetry has been translated into several foreign languages and included in anthologies. He was the laureate of several important literary awards. (In the photo: Din Mehmeti)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. II , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 1086–1087.
Photo: © https://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Din_Mehmeti
Graphic processing: AHCF
