The great writer of Albanian literature, Naum Prifti, has passed away at the age of 91.

Known also as a screenwriter, essayist, playwright, and an important figure in Albanian literature and culture, Prifti had been living in the United States since 1991.

Born in Rehova, Kolonja, he initially studied medicine and worked as a medical assistant at the Sanatorium in Korça.

However, his passion for literature led him to continue his studies in Albanian Language and Literature at the University of Tirana.

He worked as an editor for magazines “Hosteni” and “Ylli”, had a teaching career in Divjaka, was a theater inspector at the Ministry of Education and Culture, and also taught as an external professor of Albanian Literature at the University of Tirana.

In 1991, he emigrated to the United States, where he was elected secretary of the Pan-Albanian Federation “Vatra” and later became the chairman of the Albanian-American Writers’ Association.

Naum Prifti has won numerous awards for his literary works, including volumes of short stories, novels, children’s literature, humor, and film scripts.

In 2001, he was honored by the Ministry of Culture and the Writers’ Union with the “Silver Feather” award for the volume of legends “The Mother of the Sun” (“Nëna e Diellit”).

He also received the “Golden Feather” award for the volume of stories and humorous sketches “Neither Miço, Nor Muço” (“As Miço, as Muço”) from the Albanian-American Writers’ Association in New York, in 2003.

For his extensive and continuous literary work of high artistic level, he was decorated by the Albanian Assembly with the Medal of Labor and the “Naim Frashëri Order, II class”.

Naum Prifti left behind a diverse literary creation in various genres such as short stories, dramas, comedies, novels, film scripts, puppet theater pieces, animated film scripts, biographies, critical articles, journalism, etc.