Fan Noli honoured with bust in Turkey

TIRANA, Jan. 9 – Fan Noli an outstanding leader of the Albanian-American community, but also a pre-eminent and multi-talented figure of Albanian literature, culture, religious life and politics, has been commemorated in Ibrik Tepe, his birthplace in Turkey, on his 130th birth anniversary. A statue of him was unveiled in the small town situated on the Turkey-Greece border where a small Albanian community had settled.
Also known as the founder and first leader of the Albanian Orthodox Church, Fan Noli (1882-1965), was a former Prime Minister of Albania, remembered not only as a noted religious figure, statesman and poet, but also as a gifted translator. His elegant Tosk Albanian versions of Shakespeare were and are much admired in the Albanian world. Though he wrote comparatively little in the way of literature, Fan Noli remains nonetheless a literary giant. He was instrumental in helping the Albanian language reach its full literary and creative potential.