Recitation of a verse from Goethe's "Song of the Flea" in a translation of Faust triggered the decade of imprisonment Arshi Pipa endured in Communist Albania. Born in Shkodër in 1920, this versatile intellectual navigated a life defined by academic rigor, political persecution, and an enduring commitment to the linguistic preservation of his native Gheg dialect.
Academic Foundation
Pipa completed his early schooling in Shkodër by 1938 before relocating to Italy. He earned a degree equivalent to a BA, specifically a Laurea in philosophy, from the University of Florence in 1942. Upon returning to Albania, he began his professional career working as a teacher of the Italian language across several national schools.
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Following his arrest in 1946, Pipa served a ten-year term in prison, despite an original sentence of twenty years that was shortened by amnesty. During this period, he conceptualized and drafted segments of his notable collection of poems titled Libri i burgut, which reached publication in 1959. Following his release, he fled to Yugoslavia, residing in Sarajevo from 1957 to 1959.
American Career
Upon emigrating to the United States in 1959, Pipa held various academic appointments. He taught at Adelphi College, Georgetown University, Columbia University, and the University of California, Berkeley. In 1966, he joined the Department of Romance Languages at the University of Minnesota, where he served as a professor of Italian literature until his retirement in 1989.
Literary and Linguistic Criticisms
Pipa’s creative output included the 1944 publication of his first poetry collection, Lundërtarë, in Tirana, and the 1968 epic poem Rusha, which he composed in 1955. Beyond poetry, he challenged the standardization of the Albanian language. He argued that the official unified literary language imposed by the Tosk communist leadership erased the richness of the Gheg dialect native to northern Albania.
Fast facts
- Born: 28 July 1920, Shkodër
- Died: 20 July 1997, Washington, D.C.
- Education: University of Florence; University of Minnesota
- Occupations: Writer, philosopher, poet, journalist, literary critic
- Known poem: Rusha (1968)
- Prison publication: Libri i burgut (1959)
- Nationality: Albania
Questions readers ask
What subject did Arshi Pipa teach at the University of Minnesota?
He was a professor of Italian literature in the Department of Romance Languages.
Why did Pipa criticize the unified Albanian language?
He believed the unification process destroyed the richness of the Gheg dialect, labeling the resulting language a product of Tosk communist leadership.
Achievements
- Held posts at University of Minnesota, Columbia University and University of California, Berkeley
