Today, January 28, 2026, marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of the great Albanian writer Ismail Kadare. This date is the birthday of an extraordinary creator, but also a day of remembrance, because Ismail Kadare is no longer physically among us. He passed away in 2024, leaving behind a work that has transcended its time and the boundaries of its language.

Ismail Kadare is one of the most representative names in Albanian literature. He is the writer who introduced the historical, mythical and ethical experience of Albanians into the great map of European and world literature. With his novels, essays, poetry and journalism, he gave the Albanian language a universal dimension and gave Albanian culture a distinct, heard and respected voice.

Ismail Kadare and I have known each other and grown close since the seventies. We have been friends, interlocutors, readers and critics of each other. We have written about each other's work and shared mutual appreciations.

The two of us, each on our own side of the border that separated us, faced different, difficult and often unjust destinies. Historical, political and social circumstances, which we did not choose, but which were imposed on us, confronted us with moral and intellectual tests that required not only resilience, but also difficult personal decisions.

Ismail Kadare's request for political asylum in France in 1990 was misunderstood by many who did not understand the moral weight of the time. In several public appearances in the media, and especially in a statement given to the Voice of America, I argued that this act was not an escape from the homeland, but a rejection of a system that had placed invisible, but iron, limits on free thought.
Kadare did not flee to save himself, but to save his work and its freedom. His asylum was an intellectual and ethical act: the choice of free speech in the face of the silent violence of dictatorship. History has proven that the writer who seeks freedom does not abandon the nation; he serves it in the highest possible way.

I will soon prove this position by visiting Ismail Kadare in his apartment in Paris.

But, as often happens among intellectuals who think deeply and differently, we have had both disagreements and polemics.

Our most famous controversy was related to the issue of Albanian identity. There were different opinions, different arguments, different perspectives on the same fundamental issue. These disagreements were not personal; they were intellectual and cultural. However, as sometimes happens in human life, they also left consequences in our personal relationship. Our society faded and our paths, alas, never met again.

Today, remembering Ismail Kadare on the 90th anniversary of his birth, I feel the need to emphasize something important: his greatness as a writer and his historical importance for Albanian culture are beyond any disagreement. Literature is not measured by personal agreements or disagreements, but by the depth of thought, the power of language, and its long-term impact.

Ismail Kadare was and remains first and foremost a writer of his nation. He loved Albania not declaratively, but creatively. He loved it by transforming Albanian history, drama, and spirit into great literature.

This year, in June, I will also turn 90. It is impossible not to think how meaningful and how human it would have been if we had raised a toast together to this rare age, to these two lives spent among books, polemics, love for the Albanian language and culture. Perhaps this remains a human hostage of mine, but not a cultural, civilizational hostage because our dialogue continues through our works.

Ismail Kadare today does not need occasional praise. He needs reading, rereading and understanding. He needs his work to be treated with scientific seriousness and cultural sensitivity. Future generations may read it differently, but they will always read it. And they will adore it.

His separation from life, I repeat, is only a bodily separation. His name, work and thought, I repeat, are eternal. On this 90th anniversary of his birth, Ismail Kadare, I repeat, remains a major historical personality of Albanian culture, one of the figures who will continue to challenge us, worry us and inspire us.

I remember you with longing and respect, my friend, Ismail Kadare. Your eternity in my soul and mind is eternity, eternity, eternity. It is a magnificent eternity: it is past, present and future.

Rexhep Qosja Pristina, 28.1.2026