He studied agronomy at the University of Tirana,^[1] and made his debut as a writer in 1965 with the novel Era e tokës, although he is best known for his 1971 novel Toka e Ashpër, describing the collectivization of a small village.

After 1976, he also wrote screenplays in collaboration with Kinostudio Shqipëria e Re. In 1977, he won an award at the Second Albanian Film Festival for his script for Përballimi [sq] (Confrontation, or The Face-Up). He later became the manager of the editorial board for the studio's feature films. In 1990, he became head of the Kinostudio, then renamed as "Albfilm".^{[citation needed]}

In 1991, he was one of the founders and a leader of Social Democratic Party of Albania.^[2]^[3] The following year, he was elected to the Albanian Parliament and served for twelve years. From 1994 to 1997, he was the Minister of Culture.^[4] In 1998, he helped create the Liberal Union Party of Albania and was elected its leader in 2001.^[5]^[3] He also served as the Albanian ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2006 to 2010.^[6]^[7]

Biography

Works

References