{"id":8199,"date":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1970-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.albanianheritage.al\/1970\/01\/01\/rifat-kukaj-2\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T18:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T18:53:21","slug":"rifat-kukaj-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.albanianheritage.al\/en\/1970\/01\/01\/rifat-kukaj-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Rifat Kukaj"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Rifat<\/span> Kukaj<\/span>, <\/span>writer<\/span>, <\/span>literary<\/span> translator<\/span>, <\/span>was<\/span> born<\/span> in the <\/span>village<\/span> of<\/span> Terstenik<\/span> in Drenas (<\/span>Kosovo<\/span>). He <\/span>completed<\/span> primary<\/span> sc<\/span>ho<\/span>ol<\/span> in <\/span>his<\/span> ho<\/span>metown<\/span>, <\/span>and<\/span> Normal <\/span>sc<\/span>ho<\/span>ol<\/span> in <\/span>Pristina<\/span>. He <\/span>worked<\/span> as a <\/span>teacher<\/span> and<\/span> sc<\/span>ho<\/span>ol<\/span> director<\/span> in <\/span>his<\/span> native<\/span> village<\/span>, <\/span>then<\/span> a <\/span>journalist<\/span> and<\/span> editor<\/span> in the <\/span>children’s<\/span> programs<\/span> of<\/span> Radio Prishtina, <\/span>while<\/span> the <\/span>longest<\/span> working<\/span> time <\/span>was<\/span> the <\/span>editor<\/span> of<\/span> children’s<\/span> publications<\/span> in the “Rilindja” <\/span>(“<\/span>Renaissance<\/span>”)<\/span>editorial<\/span> office<\/span>. <\/span>He<\/span> belongs<\/span> to the <\/span>group<\/span> of<\/span> writers<\/span> w<\/span>ho<\/span> brought<\/span> and<\/span> advanced<\/span> the modern <\/span>expression<\/span> in <\/span>children’s<\/span> literature, as <\/span>well<\/span> as <\/span>carried<\/span> the <\/span>burden<\/span> of<\/span> developing<\/span> this<\/span> literature in <\/span>Kosovo<\/span>. The <\/span>number<\/span> of<\/span> his<\/span> works<\/span> is<\/span> very<\/span> large<\/span> and<\/span> they<\/span> are <\/span>of<\/span> all <\/span>literary<\/span> genres<\/span>: <\/span>poems<\/span>, <\/span>stories<\/span>, <\/span>novels<\/span>, <\/span>illustrations<\/span>, <\/span>humoresques<\/span>, radio <\/span>dramas<\/span>, <\/span>sketches<\/span>, <\/span>etc<\/span>. A <\/span>warm<\/span> expression<\/span> stands<\/span> out<\/span>, <\/span>which<\/span> comes<\/span> as a <\/span>result<\/span> of<\/span> deep<\/span> inspiration<\/span> which<\/span> is<\/span> also<\/span> communicative<\/span> with<\/span> the <\/span>reader<\/span>, <\/span>especially<\/span> with<\/span> children<\/span>. He <\/span>is<\/span> the<\/span> writer<\/span> with<\/span> the <\/span>largest<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> children’s<\/span> novels<\/span>, <\/span>including<\/span>: “Bardhi e <\/span>Mirushja”<\/span> (“Bardhi <\/span>and<\/span> Mirushja”)<\/span> (1968), “<\/span><\/span>Lepuri<\/span> me <\/span>pesë<\/span> këmbë<\/span><\/span>“<\/span> (“The <\/span>rabbit<\/span> with<\/span> five<\/span> feet<\/span>”)<\/span> (1971), “<\/span><\/span>Zogu <\/span>i<\/span> bardhë<\/span><\/span>“<\/span> (“The <\/span>white<\/span> bird<\/span>”)<\/span> (1989), <\/span>etc<\/span>. He <\/span>also<\/span> published<\/span> a <\/span>large<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> collections<\/span> of<\/span> stories<\/span> and<\/span> poems<\/span>. He <\/span>also<\/span> published<\/span> illustrations<\/span> for<\/span> children<\/span> and<\/span> was<\/span> involved<\/span> in <\/span>literary<\/span> translations<\/span>, <\/span>especially<\/span> from<\/span> the <\/span>Slovenian<\/span> language<\/span>. He <\/span>was<\/span> awarded<\/span> numerous<\/span> prizes<\/span> and<\/span> recognitions<\/span> for<\/span> his<\/span> literary<\/span> creativity<\/span>. <\/span>His<\/span> literary<\/span> work<\/span> has <\/span>been<\/span> translated<\/span> into<\/span> several<\/span> foreign<\/span> languages<\/span>. <\/span>He <\/span>passed<\/span> away<\/span> in <\/span>Ulcinj<\/span>, in 2005. <\/span><\/span>(In the <\/span>p<\/span>ho<\/span>to<\/span>: <\/span>Rifat<\/span> Kukaj<\/span>)<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Text<\/span><\/strong>:<\/span><\/span> The <\/span>encyclopedic<\/span> dictionary<\/span> of<\/span> Kosovo<\/span> – Vol. I <\/span><\/span>, <\/span>Academy<\/span> of<\/span> Sciences<\/span> and<\/span> Arts<\/span> of<\/span> Kosovo<\/span>, Prishtina, 2018, page 910.<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

P<\/span>ho<\/span>to<\/span><\/strong>: <\/span><\/span>© <\/span><\/span>https:\/\/www.koha.net\/perkujtime\/264\/rifat-kukaj\/<\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Graphic<\/span> processing<\/span><\/strong>: <\/span><\/span>AHCF<\/span><\/span> <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the village of Terstenik, Drenas (Kosovo), Rifat Kukaj was born, a writer and literary translator.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ditelindje"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nRifat Kukaj - Albanian Heritage<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.albanianheritage.al\/en\/1970\/01\/01\/rifat-kukaj-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Rifat Kukaj - Albanian Heritage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the village of Terstenik, Drenas (Kosovo), Rifat Kukaj was born, a writer and literary translator.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.albanianheritage.al\/en\/1970\/01\/01\/rifat-kukaj-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Albanian Heritage\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-15T18:53:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.albanianheritage.al\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1728985012257.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"herit_admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"herit_admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"herit_admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/745b8092afe1e293d16fe1dd87afd505\"},\"headline\":\"Rifat Kukaj\",\"datePublished\":\"1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-10-15T18:53:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":304,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/1728985012257.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"DITELINDJE\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.albanianheritage.al\\\/en\\\/1970\\\/01\\\/01\\\/rifat-kukaj-2\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rifat Kukaj - 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