FLASH NEWS
Today, on the anniversary of the death of the great academic and Albanologist, Martin Camaj
2025-03-12 09:12:45 / JETË
33 years ago, the writer, academic and Albanologist, Martin Camaj (July 21, 1925 - March 12, 1992) passed away.
Camaj was born on July 21, 1925, in Temal, Dukagjini, where he spent his early childhood. He would soon settle in Shkodra, where he would regularly attend the Jesuit Xaverian College. He continued his studies until 1946, when he was forced to interrupt them due to the closure of religious educational institutes in Shkodra by the communist regime.
Initially, he served as the only teacher in the first school in Prekal until 1948 when he fled Albania to escape the communist regime. After leaving the country, he was appointed as a teacher in Tuz, Montenegro. In 1950, he began his higher studies in Belgrade for 5 years and graduated in the field of literature. After a short period in Sarajevo, Martin Camaj began his doctoral studies in Rome at the Department of Albanian Language and Literature, which was headed by Ernest Koliqi.
He received the title of "Doctor" with the doctoral thesis on "Meshari" by Gjon Buzuku, under the mentorship of Ernest Koliqi. After this stage, Martin Camaj would settle in Munich in 1960 where he would practice the profession of lecturer. In 1971, the chair of Albanology would be opened for the first time at the Ludwig-Maximillian University of Munich, which would be headed for 20 years by Martin Camaj. In 1990, he received the title of "Professor Emeritus".
In addition to major academic contributions in the field of Albanology, Martin Camaj has also published a number of literary works such as: “A Flute Among the Mountains”, “The Song of the Winter”, “Legend”, “Rathë”, “Njeriu me vete e me të
He died on March 12, 1992 in Munich.
Five days before he left this world, he addressed a touching message to Albanians, a spiritual testament that conveys his longing and undying love for his country:
"Dear Albanian friends and brothers, intellectuals, artists and the entire Albanian people, my greetings are addressed to all of you. I am immensely happy that you have decided to appreciate my work: this appreciation brings us closer. Be brave enough to include me in your ranks. Although we are separated by half a century, I am yours and you are mine."
In these last words, one senses a deep longing, a desire to be part of his nation, even though years and circumstances had kept him away. He was not a stranger to Albania, nor was Albania a stranger to him—it lived in his poetry, in his scientific research, in the pure and ancient Gheg dialect, which he preserved with devotion.
Martin Camaj is no more, but his word lives on. He invites us to recognize and appreciate his literary and linguistic heritage, to understand that a nation cannot be divided by language, nor history, but only by oblivion. On this anniversary, we remember not only the poet and scholar, but also the man who, even in his last moments, felt himself an inseparable part of the Albanian trunk.
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