Sterjo Spasse

Sterjo Spasse (Macedonian: Стерјо Спасе) (14 August 1914 – 12 September 1989) was an Albanian prose writer and novelist.

Sterjo Spasse
Стерјо Спасе
Portrait of Sterjo Spasse
Born	(1914-08-14)14 August 1914 Gollomboç, Pustec, Albania
Died	12 September 1989(1989-09-12) (aged 75) Tirana, Albania
Alma mater	University of Florence
Signature

Life

Sterjo Spasse was born in 1914 in Gollomboç, Pustec Municipality, Korçë District, Albania, of Macedonian Slav descent.^[1] Spasse pursued the elementary school in Korçë, and later, the Shkolla Normale e Elbasanit. He worked as a teacher in Derviçan, in the Dropull region,^[2] and then went to the University of Florence, Italy to study Pedagogy. He also pursued a master in literature in the Soviet Union.

Along his various contributions in the pedagogic field and translations, his main fieldwork was creative writing, which started in the 1930s. He published four collections of short stories and 10 novels:^[3] After World War II he worked as a literary critic and writer in the pedagogic magazines The new school (Albanian: Shkolla e re), and The popular education (Albanian: Arsimi popullor), as well as Our Literature (Albanian: Literatura jonë), and November (Albanian: Nëntori). Spasse's novel Pse? is considered one of his better novels; it has been translated into English by Robert Wilton.^[2] He was a member of the Albanian League of Writers and Artists.^[3] Spasse died in Tirana, Albania, in 1989.

Spasse's son, Ilinden Spase (born 1934), is also a writer.^[4]

A museum dedicated to Sterjo Spasse was opened in his native village of Glloboçen in 2022.^[5]

Short stories

• "Kuror rinie" (Youth crown), 1934.
• "Në krahët e një femre" (In the arms of a woman), 1934.
• "Nusja pa duvak" (Bride without veil), 1944.
• "Të fala nga fshati", (Regards from the village), 1958.

Novels

• "Pse ?" (Why ?), 1935.
• "Afërdita" (Afërdita), 1944.
• "Ata nuk ishin vetëm" (They were not alone), 1952.
• "Afërdita përsëri në fshat" (Afërdita back in the village), 1954.
• "Buzë liqenit" (Lakeside), 1965.
• "Zjarre..." (Fires...), 1972.
• "Zgjimi" (Awakening), 1973.
• "Pishtarë" (Beacons), 1975.
• "Ja vdekje ja liri" (Death or freedom), 1978.
• "Kryengritësit" (Rebels), 1983.

References

1. Elsie, Robert (2010-03-19). Historical Dictionary of Albania. ISBN 9780810873803.
2. Biography of Sterjo Spasse, Robert Elsie, archived from the original on 2013-09-27, retrieved 2013-09-22
3. "Shënime për autorin (Notes on the author)", STERJO SPASSE Nga jeta në jetë PSE ?!... (in Albanian) (2 ed.), Prishtina: Redaksia e Botimeve "RILINDJA", 1986, p. 211
4. "Биографија на сајтот на Дружеството на писателите на Македония". Archived from the original on 2010-09-30. Retrieved 2023-04-03.
5. "Даден во употреба музејот посверен на Стејо Спасе во селото Глобочани, општина Пустец". Vesnik Ilinden. 25 March 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.