Haki Stërmilli was an Albanian

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...

 writer and journalist. His works dealt mostly with issues related to the rights of the Albanian communities outside Albania, republicanism, emancipation of women and feminism. His best known work was the novel Sikur të isha djalë (If I were a Boy).

Life

Born in Debar

Debar

Debar is a city in the western part of the Republic of Macedonia, near the border with Albania, on the road from Struga to Gostivar. It is the seat of Debar Municipality.-Geography:...

, Ottoman Empire

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 (modern Macedonia

Republic of Macedonia

Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...

) Stërmilli finished his first studies in Bitola

Bitola

Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...

. In 1920 along with Avni Rustemi he became one of the founders and the secretary of the youth organization, Bashkimi. An antimonarchist and supporter of Fan Noli he took part in the revolt that overthrew the monarchy, but after its restoration in late 1924 he was exiled. In 1930 he was captured by the Yugoslav authorities and evicted to Albania, where he was sentenced to prison for his antimonarchist activities. During WWII he joined the National Liberation Movement (LNÇ) and became head of of the organization in the Dibër District

Dibër District

The District of Dibër is one of the thirty-six districts of Albania, part of Dibër County. It has a population of 62,825, and an area of 1088 km². It is in the north-east of the country, and its capital is Peshkopi....

. After the war he was elected a deputy of the Albanian parliament and also served as head of the National Library of Albania

National Library of Albania

The National Library of Albania is an Albanian national library headquartered in the capital, Tirana. It was founded in 1920 and inaugurated on December 10, 1922.- References :...

 until his death in 1953.

Works

Stërmilli's first works include the novel The Unfortunate Dibrane and Love and Loyalty , which describe the persecution of the Albanian community of his home region Debar by the Serbian army. In 1935 his semi-autobiographical work The Prison , a memoir of life in prison and its degraded conditions and effects, was published. The novel Sikur t'isha djalë (If I were a Boy), published in 1936, is his best known work and the first literary work in Albanian that dealt with the subjects of feminism and the emancipation of women. Sikur t'isha djalë became one the most popular books of the 1930s in Albanian and is considered revolutionary for that period.

Sources