On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (Migjeni)’s arrival as a teacher in Puka, a statue of the well-known Albanian poet and writer was inaugurated in the city of Puka on April 18, 2016The statue made by Ardian Pepa was set in the city center and besides Migjeni’s bust it also features Luli i Vocerr, one of the most well-known characters of Migjeni. The statue was funded by Fran Gjoka an artist from Puka who is currently living in the United States.
Born in Shkodra on October 13, 1911, Millosh Gjergj Nikolla is well known under his nom de plume Migjeni which is an acronym formed by the first two letters of the writer’s first name, patronymic and last name. Author of around twenty-four short prose, Migjeni’s main writing theme was misery and suffering, something the writer faced everyday while teaching and being in contact with many of his students living in poverty.
Among his most successful poems are Tà« birtà« e shekullit tà« ri (The sons of the new age), Zgjimi (Awakening), Kanga e rinis (Song of youth) and Kanga e tà« burgosunit (The prisoner’s song). His first short prose entitled Sokrat i vuejtun apo derr i kà«naqun (A suffering Socrates or a satisfied pig) was published in the periodical Illyria In May 1934. Soon after that, in 1935, when Migjeni was 23 years old, he fell seriously ill with tuberculosis, a disease he tried to fight but achieved no improvement and died at the Waldensian hospital in Torre Pellice on August 26, 1938.
Even though he lived for only 26 years, Migjeni managed to achieve great things and his works are still one of the most precious ones nowadays. His Vargjet e Lira (Free Verses) volume was printed by Gutenberg Press Publisher in Tirana in 1936, but was banned by the government’s censorship at the time.
