Petro Marko

Petro Marko was born on the 25^th November 1913; he died on the 27^th December 1991. He was a writer from Albania. The best novel he wrote is called Hasta La Vista, the novel recounts the experiences he had as a volunteer of the Republican forces at the time of the Spanish Civil War. Marko is generally seen to be one of the founding fathers of the contemporary prose in the country, Albania.

source of www.gazetarepublika.al

Life

Marko was born in Dhermi, southern part of the country, in the year 1913. He began the act of writing when he was 20 years and the first works he did were published in the journals of the time with the assistance from Ernest Koliqi, who is his mentor. The articles he wrote were published in the periodicals like the following; Lirija, Shqipëria e Re, Bota e Re, and Koha e Re magazine, and he started this ever since he was 20 years. From the 1^st of March 1936, he became the editor of the ABC, a literary review that was banned by the king of the country after soon after it was started, and he was arrested and sent to internment. In august of the year 1936, he joined Garibaldi Battalion of the republican forces of the Spanish Civil War together with some other popular Albanians like Mehmet Shehu, Asim Vokshi and Thimi Gogozoto.

At the time of the Spanish Civil War, together with Skender Laurasi, the son of Nini Laurasi, he printed in Madrid the Albanian newspaper called Vullnëtari i Lirisë that was stopped after two problems due to the military status in the city, Madrid. The best and most popular book that he published was done in Tirana in the year 1958 and the book was hugely influenced by the experience he had already acquired at the time of the Civil War. In the year 1940 after he had been deported from France to his country, Albania, he was arrested by the Italian Army and was imprisoned in Bari and he was sent to Ustica, which is an island of the Tyrrhenian Sea from the year 1941 to the year 1943 together with 600 other prisoners and he finished with Regina Coeli Prison that is located near Rome in the year 1944.

In October 1944, he joined the forces of the Albanian National Liberation Front as a partisan. After the war, he became the chief editor of the periodical Bashkimi, though he was arrested again in the year 1947 by Koci Xoxe, the minister of defense and was released after the downfall of Xoxe in the year 1949. He was accused of giving information to the Anglo-Americans at the time he was working as the chief editor. The last time he spent in prison was from May 1947 to May 1950. He remained an idealist and an artifascist. In the letter he sent to the Supreme military court of the country while he was in prison , he stated; ‘Petro Marko is sentenced to three years and is thrown into the midst of those who he fought against, and hated. For me, this is the greatest injustice, it is a crime that takes place against me, because I am innocent and never ever, starting as early as 1932, did not bring any harm to the people....’ he also stated in the letter that he had been forced to admit something that he never did, otherwise he will be killed.

He died in the year 1991. In the year 2003, the president of the country, Alfred Moisiu honored him with the medal Honor of the Nation. In the year 2009, a square in Dhermi was devoted to his memory and the ceremony was attended by the prime minister of the country Sali Berisha. The main theater that is in Velona has his name as the name of the theatre.

Work

The best known works that was done by Marko are Hasta La Vistan and Nata e Ustikes that was later published again as Një natë e dy agime. The latter is a 380 page novel that recounted the life in prison at the Ustica labor Camp, which was the place he was imprisoned also. Most of the works he did showed surrealist motifs and styles like the novel he called Qyteti i fundit, showing the end of the Italian occupation in the country, Albania.

A 204 page collection that was written by Marko in the early active years from the year 1933 to the year 1937 called Rrugë pa rrugë was published. He also published a novel called Një emër në katër rrugë, set in the Monarchist period in the country. The book was banned by the authority of the country and he was restricted from publishing any work until the year 1982.