Din Mehmeti
Encyclopedia
Din Mehmeti was an Albanian
poet from Kosovo
. He was among the best-known classical representatives of contemporary verse in Kosovo.
, Junik
, near Đakovica, Yugoslavia
(present-day Kosovo
). He studied Albanian language
and literature at the University of Belgrade
. He later lectured at the teacher training college in Đakovica. Although he has published some prose, literary criticism and a play, he is known primarily for his figurative poetry which has appeared in fifteen volumes between 1961 and 1999.
Mehmeti's verse is one of indigenous sensitivity. He relies on many of the figures, metaphors and symbols of northern Albanian popular verse to imbue and stabilize his restless lyrics with the stoic vision of the mountain tribes. Despite the light breeze of romanticism which wafts through his verse, as critic Rexhep Qosja
once put it, this creative assimilation of folklore remains strongly fused with a realist current, at times ironic, which takes its roots in part from the ethics of revolt in the tradition of Migjeni and Esad Mekuli
. Mehmeti's poetic restlessness is, nonetheless, not focused on messianic protest or social criticism but on artistic creativity and individual perfection.
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...
poet from Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
. He was among the best-known classical representatives of contemporary verse in Kosovo.
Career
He was born in 1932 in the village of GjocajGjoçaj
Gjoçaj is a municipality in the Peqin District, Elbasan County, central Albania. The municipality consists of the villages Gjoçaj, Celhakaj, Hasmashaj, Kurtaj, Vashaj, Rrumbullak, Bregas, Bardhas and Blinas....
, Junik
Junik
Junik is a municipality and small town in the Đakovica district of western Kosovo. It is located in the west Metohija between Dečani and Đakovica along Kosovo's mountainous border with Albania. It is populated with ethnic Albanians...
, near Đakovica, Yugoslavia
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a state stretching from the Western Balkans to Central Europe which existed during the often-tumultuous interwar era of 1918–1941...
(present-day Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
). He studied Albanian language
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
and literature at the University of Belgrade
University of Belgrade
The University of Belgrade is the oldest and largest university of Serbia.Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it merged with the Kragujevac-based departments into a single university...
. He later lectured at the teacher training college in Đakovica. Although he has published some prose, literary criticism and a play, he is known primarily for his figurative poetry which has appeared in fifteen volumes between 1961 and 1999.
Mehmeti's verse is one of indigenous sensitivity. He relies on many of the figures, metaphors and symbols of northern Albanian popular verse to imbue and stabilize his restless lyrics with the stoic vision of the mountain tribes. Despite the light breeze of romanticism which wafts through his verse, as critic Rexhep Qosja
Rexhep Qosja
Rexhep Qosja is a prominent Albanian politician and literary critic from the area of Malësia in modern Montenegro....
once put it, this creative assimilation of folklore remains strongly fused with a realist current, at times ironic, which takes its roots in part from the ethics of revolt in the tradition of Migjeni and Esad Mekuli
Esad Mekuli
Esad Mekuli was an Albanian poet and scholar. He was the first president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo...
. Mehmeti's poetic restlessness is, nonetheless, not focused on messianic protest or social criticism but on artistic creativity and individual perfection.