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Mit'hat Araniti 48 years in prison, exile and deportation! The intellectual who translated over 200 books in cells and barracks
2026-02-16 16:05:21 / JETË
Mit'hat Araniti was a lawyer, publicist, pioneer of short Albanian prose in dialect, one of the representatives of the generation of intellectuals of the time, with Western leanings.
His father was a senior military officer, colonel, in 1923-24 - Minister of War, then, until 1927, President of the Permanent Military Court. He completed his primary school in Austria (Freistadt) and Corfu (Italian school), secondary school in Italy (Pisa, Monte MarioRome) and higher education in the legal branch in Zagreb, Croatia. He practiced the profession of justice of the peace in Gjirokastër, Elbasan, Prizren (2 times), Durrës. For a decade (1934-1944) publicist and author known in the satirical press of the time, known under several artistic pseudonyms (Rrém Vogli, Jago Blini, Sufi Asmon Sufës), pioneer of Albanian dialect literature. The fields where Mit'hati has left his mark and always of a high level according to the assessment of scholars, are those of literary and journalistic creations.
In September 1935, the weekly “Illyria” published a sketch “M'bojat m'Nurrës” signed Rrem Vogli, the pseudonym under which Mit'hat Araniti published a series of humorous sketches written in the Tirana dialect. In 1996, under the care of his daughter, Odeta Zhegu, his collection “Qyfyre të Rrem Voglit, katunar pri Rrashbulle: Skica humoristike dhe publicistikë” was published, which also includes poems and some interviews and articles from the last years of his life. In the preface to this edition of Phoenix, Vedat Kokona calls Mit'hat Araniti “a gas donor”, perhaps the most difficult mission for a writer. As the publication dates show, Mit'hat Araniti was constantly present in Albanian periodicals until his arrest in 1944, when he published in the Literary Review, "Pa nrefim parti", "a small masterpiece of its kind" and "gold in the mud", according to Kokona.
Mit'hat Araniti practiced the profession of Justice of the Peace in Gjirokastra in 1940, after a year in Prizren. He participated in the organization of the Balli Kombëtar, then returned to the Ministry of Justice, which renamed it in Prizren, then in Elbasan and in Durrës until 1943, when he went to the mountains in the ranks of the nationalist chetas of the Mallakastra area. He participated in the Balli's representation at the meeting where the Mukje Agreement was reached. At the end of 1943, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Interior. Together with Musine Kokalari and other intellectuals, they created the Social Democratic Party in Tirana. Its leaders were targeted before the National Liberation Front took power. Mit'hat Araniti served almost 10 years in prison (November 1944-April 1954).
Ai u arrestua tri ditë pas kryengritjes së Postribës, por urdhër arresti u lëshua tre muaj më vonë në dhjetor 1946. Ai u dënua si figurë e Ballit Kombëtar që mbronte tezën e Shqipërisë etnike siç u arrit marrëveshja në Mukje. U dënua me 10 vite burg, u lirua më 1951 Në momentin e arrestimit ishte Shef Personeli i Ministrisë së Drejtësisë. U arrestua me 21.11.1944 (akuza: si figurë e Ballit Kombëtar dhe për mbrojtjen e tezës së Shqipërisë etnike në Mbledhjen e Mukjes, ku mori pjesë). Kreu rreth 1 vit burg në Burrel, më pas në Burgun e Artizanatit, Tiranë, dhoma e përkthyesve, bashkë me Mirash Ivanajn, Lazër Radin, Mihal Sherkon, etj.. Doli nga burgu në prill 1954. Po atë ditë niset në internim, me vendimin nr. 1 të Komisionit të Internim- Dëbimeve.
Vuajti internimin nga prill 1954 deri në 1960 në 5-6 kampe në Kuç, Kurvelesh, Shtyllas e Radostimë, Fier, Gradishtë e Çermë, Lushnje). Lek Pervizi i ka kushtuar një shkrim me titull “Mit’hat Araniti-Bashkëvuejtës dhe mik i paharruar”, ku tregon që me Mit’hatin është njohur në Shtyllas dhe Radostinë të Fierit, ku këta të internuar i kishin aneksuar në kampin e të burgosurve dhe i kishin futur në punë bashkë me ta, për të hapur “një kanal faraonik”. Nga aty, Mit’hatin, Lekën e një grup intelektualësh të lartë, ish-funksionarësh dhe anëtarësh familjesh të njohura i dërguan në kampin e Kuçit, në Vlorë, që funksionoi në periudhën 1954-1958 e ku përbërja e të dënuarve, mund t’i jepte atij kampi emërtesën “Akademia e Kuçit”. U martua më 1959 në internim me znj.Agime Pipa (Araniti), ish-e burgosur politike (1946- 1950) në burgjet e Shkodrës. Më pas vuajti dëbimin nga 1960 deri në vdekje (29.11.1992) në Çermë e Dushk të Lushnjes. Gjatë gjithë periudhës së internimit dhe dëbimit punoi në bujqësi. Si shumë të internuar të tjerë, banesa e familjes ishte një barakë. U nda nga jeta më 29.11.1992 në Tiranë, pa arritur t’i shpërngulet gjendja civile nga vendet e dënimit. Për punën dhe veprimtarinë e tij patriotike e kulturore është dekoruar me titujt më të lartë pas vdekjes.
Mit'hat Araniti translated over 200 books. The dictatorship imprisoned and interned him, forcing him to work in cell or barracks conditions. Araniti mastered a number of foreign languages, such as Italian, German, French, English and Serbo-Croatian. In prison, he learned Russian, while Turkish was his mother tongue, at the age of 61 he began to learn Romanian. He translated for a living for the Archaeological Museum of Durrës and Tirana, in the fields of Albanology, archaeology, numismatics, etymology, etc. He worked in his apartment, that is, in his barracks. Once, a fire that engulfed the barracks burned all the translations he had in his hands, or stored there. Among the authors translated by him are Meyer, Russu, Krahe, Stipèeviè, De Simone, Jokli, Praschniker, Garaschanin, Benac, Walde, Von Hahn, Šufflay, Rendiè-Mioèeviè, Katièiè, Teodorova, Papazoglu, Schuchardt, Thalloczy, Kilian, Roman, etc. The translations, usually typed in four copies, have become part of the holdings of the Scientific Libraries, first of the University of Tirana and then of the Academy of Sciences, which commissioned translations from him until before his death.
His translation of the three-volume Etymological Dictionary of Indo-European Languages, compiled by Alois Walde and Julius Pokorny from German, remained unpublished in manuscript for decades in the Durrës Library. For over 9 years, in the Tirana Prison, he translated (with others) all the legislation and theoretical foundations of the functioning of the state. Over 200 titles translated during 40 years in a state of internment and deportation (except for translations in prison for 10 years), in addition to working in agriculture, from 6-7 foreign languages, for the Archaeological Museum of Durrës and Tirana, in the fields of Albanology, archaeology, numismatics, etymology, etc. Mi'thati was very fluent in Italian, German, French, English, Serbian. In prison he learned Russian, while Turkish was his mother tongue. 61 years old, he also learns Romanian. Some translated albanologist authors Mayer, Russu, Krahe, Stipèeviè, de Simone, Jokli, Praschniker, Garaschanin, Benac, Walde, Hahn, Schufflay, Rendiè-Mioèeviè, Katièiè, Teodorova, Papazoglu, Schuckhardt, von Thalloczy, Kilian, Roman, etc. In 1996, the collection of his literary writings from the period 1934-1944, poems, as well as some interviews and articles from the last years of his life, was published, under the title "Qyfyre të Rrem Voglit, katunar pri Rrashbulle". For his patriotic and cultural work and activity, after his death, which came on 29.11.1992, he was decorated with the highest titles and orders by the President of the Republic, such as "Torch of Democracy", "Naim Frashëri" and "Honor of the Nation"./ Panorama
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