Albania’s internationally renowned writer Ismail Kadare received the “Commander of the National Order of the Legion of Honour” title by French President Franà§ois Hollande on May 30, 2016.
Held at the Presidential Palace, in Elise, the ceremony was attended by a close circle of guests including Prime Minister Edi Rama. Kadare was promoted with France’s highest decoration, as a reward for outstanding merit in a civilian capacity, in the beginning of 2016 on the writer’s 80th anniversary.
“You are a passionate advocate of the European culture. Despite being Albanian you speak perfect French, have a European heart and universal spirit,” Hollande said.
“Gratitude and respect for Ismail Kadare. Just at the start of 2016 which also corresponds to the 80th birthday of our internationally renowned writer, President Franà§ois Hollande raised Ismail Kadare to the highest possible grade, that of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest decoration. Heartfelt wishes with gratitude and respect for the writer who has taken the Albanian language to previously untrodden peaks and has made his works to be read and admired in many languages,” wrote Rama on social networks.
Just recently Kadare was awarded by Albanian President Bujar Nishani, with the “National Flag” award at the International Conference entitled “The century of Kadare” which was attended by several important figures from all over the world. Nishani said during the ceremony that Ismail Kadare’s work does not belong to Albanian only, but to the entire world as it Kadare’s work is a world value.
“I am touched by this honor. […] I like this honor not because I want to come out as a moralist but because for us writers, there is no personal honor and I like that the head of the country takes part in this cultural celebration. I also thank you who probably expect to hear great things from someone who’s written all these great novels. I thank all of you in this room, fellow writers, fellow researchers, Albanian translators who are the mother of everything. They have noted that they feel a bit forgotten. Maybe the entire world can forget about you, but we authors never forget about you,” Kadare said after receiving the award.
Declared as the year of Kadare, several events have happened during the last few months in honor of the well-known writer.
The Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Gjirokastra signed an agreement on the revitalization of the Ismail Kadare House on January 7, 2016. The House of Kadare museum was finally opened for the public on January 28 and was visited by the writer on May 15, 2016.
“Kadare’s House is not only a revitalization project of the museum and cultural center, but it also aims to create a successful model that can be followed by other municipalities in Albania. In cooperation with the Municipality of Gjirokastra, we will share common policies and the same approaches, creating new administration and management cells in our culture and heritage, and shift the poles of culture from the center to the outskirts,” said Mirela Kumbaro, the Minister of Culture.
Managed by the Ministry of Culture, Kadare’s House is a well-known destination for anyone who visits Gjirokastra. Located within the city’s historic center, the building was declared as a first category monument on July 5, 1991, and was recently restored by UNESCO and the Ministry of Culture.
France has been Kadare’s second home and the country where the writer has developed his career since since he left in 1990, during a time when the communist regime was collapsing in Albania. Since the 1960s Kadare has been a leading literary figure in Albania. He published his first novel The General of the Dead Army in 1963 and has been mentioned several times as a possible candidate to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature.
