Arshi Pipa | |
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| Born | (1920-07-28)28 July 1920 Shkodër,Principality of Albania |
| Died | 20 July 1997(1997-07-20) (aged 76) Washington, D.C.,United States |
| Occupation | Philosopher |
| Language | Albanian, English, French, Italian |
| Nationality | Albanian |
| Citizenship | Albanian, United States |
| Education | PhD on philosophy |
| Alma mater | University of Florence |
| Period | 1944–1995 |
| Genre | Epic poetry,literary criticism |
| Signature | |
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Arshi Pipa (28 July 1920 – 20 July 1997) was an Albanian and American writer, philosopher, poet andliterary critic.[1]
Arshi Pipa was born on 28 July 1920 inShkodër and attended school there until 1938. Pipa received a BA equivalent degree ("Laurea") in philosophy at theUniversity of Florence in 1942.[2] After he completed his studies he was a teacher ofItalian language in different schools in Albania.[3]
He was imprisoned for ten years (1946–56) inCommunist Albania[4] because he antagonized the communist regime with his recitation of a verse from a "Song of the Flea" by Goethe found in a translation ofFaust.[3] After he was released from prison (his original sentence was 20 years, but afteramnesty it was cut to 10) he escaped toYugoslavia and lived inSarajevo during the period 1957–9.[3] In 1959 he emigrated to the United States where he taught atAdelphi College,Georgetown University,Columbia University, andUC Berkeley. Then, from 1966 to 1989, he was a professor ofItalian literature in the Department of Romance Languages at theUniversity of Minnesota.[3][5][6]
Pipa died in Washington DC on July 20, 1997.[6]
The first poetry Pipa composed in late 1930,Lundërtarë [Seamen], was published in Tirana in 1944. When he was in prison he thought out and actually wrote some parts of his best-known collection of poems,Libri i burgut [The Prison Book], published in 1959.[7] His epic poemRusha (1968), composed in 1955 during his imprisonment, describes love between Albanians andSerbs in the late 14th century.[3]
Pipa claimed that the unification of theAlbanian language was wrong because it deprived Albanian language of its richness at the expense ofGheg.[8] He called the unified literary Albanian language a "monstrosity" produced by the Tosk communist leadership, who conquered anti-communist north Albania and imposed theirTosk Albanian dialect on the Ghegs.[9]
Writer and scholar, Arshi Pipa (1920–1997) ... studied philosophy ... published ... poetry
in Shkodra where he attended school until 1938. ..Pipa studied philosophy at the University of Florence, where he received the degree of "dottore in filosofia" in 1942.
...at a poetry reading ... antagonized the authorities with his recitation of lyrics...that also included ... lines from Goethe's song...
Arshi Pipa (1920–1997) spent ten years in prison (1946–1956) in communist Albania
he taught at Georgetown, Columbia, and Berkeley before being appointed in 1966 to our University's Department of romance Languages
Arshi Pipa, an Albanian poet now living in the United States, is best known for his Libri i Burgut (The Prison Book), a collection of poems which were thought out, and in some cases actually written, during a long spell of political
