Greatest Writer of your Country

1.     Who is generally accepted to be the greatest 
        writer of your country and/or mother-tongue?

You can find the full bios of most if not all mentioned here on this site

1.Ismail Kadare

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/4604409.stm

2. Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940)

By far the greatest and most influential figure of Albanian literature in the first half of the twentieth century was the Franciscan pater Gjergj Fishta (1871-1940) who more than any other writer gave artistic expression to the searching soul of the now sovereign Albanian nation. Lauded and celebrated up until the Second World War as the �national poet of Albania� and the �Albanian Homer,� Fishta was to fall into sudden oblivion when the communists took power in November 1944. The very mention of his name became taboo for forty-six years.

3. Naim Frash�ri (1846-1900) is nowadays widely considered to be the national poet of Albania. He spent his childhood in the village of Frash�r where he no doubt began learning Turkish, Persian and Arabic and where, at the Bektashi monastery, he was imbued with the spiritual traditions of the Orient. In Janina (Ioannina), Naim Frash�ri attended the Zosimaia secondary school which provided him with the basics of a classical education along Western lines. Here he was to study Ancient and Modern Greek, French and Italian and, in addition, was to be tutored privately in oriental languages. As he grew in knowledge, so did his affinity for his pantheistic Bektashi religion, for the poets of classical Persia and for the Age of Enlightenment. His education in Janina made of him a prime example of a late nineteenth-century Ottoman intellectual equally at home in both cultures, the Western and the Oriental.

Naim Frash�ri is the author of a total of twenty-two works: four in Turkish, one in Persian, two in Greek and fifteen in Albanian.

4. Martin Barleti was a humanist of Albanian descent, the first and greatest Albanian historian, and a Catholic priest.

When Barleti lived in Shkod�r he was a scholar and a clergyman. In 1474 the Turks besieged Shkod�r. Barleti participated in the defense of the town both in the first siege in 1474 and the second time in 1478. When Shkod�r fell to the Ottomans he escaped to Italy where he became a profound connoisseur of history, classical literature and the Latin language. In Venice he wrote the "History of Skanderberg (Historia de vita et rebus gestis Scanderbegi) (1508-1511), "The Siege of Shkod�r" (De obsidione Scodransi, Venice, 1504) and "A Brief History of Lives of Popes and Emperors" (Compendium vitarum ponticum et imperatorum, Venice, 1555).

His most well-known work is the biography of the Albanian national hero Skanderbeg, Historia de vita et gestis Scanderbegi Epirotarum principis (The story of life and deeds of Skanderbeg, the prince of Epirotes). It was printed in Rome between 1506 and 1510, probably between 1508 and 1510. The book rapidly spread in several languages and eventually was translated into Latin and Portuguese four times 1582 and German seven times 1533. It is still the foundation of Skanderbeg studies, and also established the Skanderbeg cult that was important for the formation of the Albanian national self-consciousness. This book is considered as an albanian cultural treasure and today is in Biblioteka Kombetare in Tirana, Albania.

(I didnt put him as first because his works were not in Albanian)



Edited by Theodore Felix

1. Milos Crnjanski, Mesa Selimovic, Ivo Andric (last 2 wrote on serbian literary language, although there are many disputes over their nationality)

2. Milos Crnjanski (my personal favorite)

3. Milorad Pavic (he wrote "Hazarski recnik")

4. Tolkien of course (to my oppinion he's the greatest writer ever) 

Originally posted by Komnenos Originally posted by Surbel   My  favorites...Danilo  Kis, Jovan  Ducic,Mesa Selimovic,Njegos  ofcourse,Maxim Gorky... My childhood past with Karl May Hey, there must be a nest in former Yugo, of Karl May fans, met quite a few of them. Did you prefer Old Shatterhand or Kara ben Nemsi? I liked his adventures on the Balkans, read them a couple of years back again.

 I read all i mean all work of Karl May when i was between 9 and 14years old. If i remember it was more then 45 his books and i do it 4x around.
 But i never liked the movies wich they made. Remember special indian tehnic how to run for a long distance?

  Sorry,my  bad  it  supose  to  be  'from'  not  'for'

  My  favorites...Danilo  Kis, Jovan  Ducic,Mesa Selimovic,Njegos  ofcourse,Maxim Gorky...
 My childhood past with Karl May

 Here's one Serbian writer:Milos Crnjanski

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milos_Crnjanski

 

Originally posted by ill_teknique Originally posted by Mila Ivo Andric. He was born and raised in Travnik, or "Vizier's City", the Ottoman-era capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His book Na Drina Cuprija (Bridge over the Drina) won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1967. His book, "Woman from Sarajevo" is probably the second-most famous in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the lines from that book is engraved on the Vratnik Gate in the old City Walls around Sarajevo: "At whatever time of day, and from whatever point you set your sights on Sarajevo, you always - and without specific intention - think the same thing: THAT is a city. A city that both nears its end and is dying, yet, at the same time, is being reborn." i wouldnt call him the greatest he was a bit anti - bosnjak

how is that?  i dont get it..... btw he lived in herceg novi some time (i live in hn )

Originally posted by Mila Ivo Andric. He was born and raised in Travnik, or "Vizier's City", the Ottoman-era capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. His book Na Drina Cuprija (Bridge over the Drina) won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1967. His book, "Woman from Sarajevo" is probably the second-most famous in Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of the lines from that book is engraved on the Vratnik Gate in the old City Walls around Sarajevo: "At whatever time of day, and from whatever point you set your sights on Sarajevo, you always - and without specific intention - think the same thing: THAT is a city. A city that both nears its end and is dying, yet, at the same time, is being reborn."

i wouldnt call him the greatest he was a bit anti - bosnjak

Ivo Andric. He was born and raised in Travnik, or
"Vizier's City", the Ottoman-era capital of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. His book Na Drina Cuprija (Bridge over
the Drina) won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1967.

His book, "Woman from Sarajevo" is probably the
second-most famous in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
One of the lines from that book is engraved on the
Vratnik Gate in the old City Walls around Sarajevo:

"At whatever time of day, and from whatever point you
set your sights on Sarajevo, you always - and without
specific intention - think the same thing: THAT is a
city. A city that both nears its end and is dying, yet, at
the same time, is being reborn."