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SH.S. NOÉ AND
UNBROKEN IDEALISM
Notes about life and activity of Shpend Sollaku Noé
by
Attilio Bertolucci.
S.S.Noé is known as a poet,
writer, politician, professor, literary critic, investigator journalist
in the field of state nomenclature corruption and symbioses with
organized crime.
Noé is one of the first organizers and leaders of the opposition who,
risking life, made possible the collapse of communism in the East; is
one of the pioneer publishers of neo-democratic East European press; is
the first who denounced the Mafia's penetration in the East and
infiltration of organized crime in the state nomenclatures; is the first
who denounced the war in the Balkans (especially in Bosnia and Kosovo)
and predicted length of its development; is the first who, when the West
applauded the victory of democracy in the East Europe, has warned of
swift return in power of crypto-communists.
Noé was born in Albania on April 3, 1957 in a family of clerks. He had a
difficult childhood because, when he was three years old, his father, a
monarchist, was sentenced of imprisonment as a "saboteur" of the Hoxha
regime. His family, mother and six children, in whom Noé was the
youngest child, experienced, besides the economic hardship, the
psychological violence and terror of class war. Little Noé lived with
pain seizure of the house, expulsion from school to his brother,
imitation of cross-handed handcuffs on the streets by the children of
censors. His mother, a teacher, was transferred far away from home and
his oldest brother, although still a teenager, played the father’s role.
He "obliged" his sibling to read books and listen to classical music all
day, miraculously saving them from the ugly consequences of
marginalization.
During childhood, Noé read books "for adults" and started to write
intensively and even to publish. He wrote stories, drama and poetry.
Fourteen years old, Noé won music contest in capital of Tirana, but he
couldn’t continue artistic Lyceum. Back in his hometown, he enrolled in
high school continuing to be excellent in class, and pursued reading,
writing and, occasionally, publishing.
At
the same time Noé was activated as an actor, singer, librettist and
"show-friend", and started to attend anti regime environments. During
the high school years, two national seminars for young talents were
organized and Noé was the dominant author and presenter. He ended the
school with excellent grades, but his high school degree was jeopardized
by a pair of “anti-communist” pants and by singing in the park famous
foreign songs with a group of friends. The excellent grades weren’t
enough to earn him the right to continue university, and he desperately
sought his right to study for three straight years. Eighteen years old,
he prepared his first book, "The Sphinx", after publishing in newspapers
and magazines. Ismail Kadare, a great Albanian writer, and a political
exile in France since 1989, wrote to the chief of the "Naim Frashëri"
Publishing House: "Dear… the author of these verses is a boy with
original talent. I ask, if it is possible, to make the book review”.The
Kadare's request was rejected. Everything that was good to Kadare, it
was ugly to publisher of the regime. Publication of Noé’s book was
denied, and he was pressured to return to the traditional cliché of
socialist realism.
In
1978, thanks to the energetic intervention of the Writers’ Association
and personally its president, great poet Dritëro Agolli, near Hoxha's,
Noé won the right, "outside the criteria", to study in Albanian language
and literature. But as soon as registered at university, they posted him
on the island of Sazan to perform military service for three years as a
sailor. There he was enforced to make 12 hour service in 24 hours and
later hard labor to open tunnels!
In
this period, secretly, because soldiers were prohibited by law to
frequent school, risking arrest, Noé attended lectures and finished in a
few months all the exams (the first year - in five days: it was normal
for him giving two exams a day, even three exams getting the maximum
grade).
In
1980 his father died, but army officers did not tell him. Alerted by a
soldier postman, he left island of Sazan at midnight on a freighter and
reached home hours before the funeral. Return to the island was
infernal: special surveillance, tunnel work and no more permits to see
his family. It's the elderly mother who, though sick, traveled to give
him the denied literature.
Returned to freedom in 1982, Noé began work as a teacher in the town of
Lushnje, but since he was an undesirable element, was transferred to one
of the poorest villages of Albania, in a high school where also the
children of political prisoners were studied. He could not dream to
become a singer (his voice was recorded by secretaries of the party and
was halt as too Western), and couldn’t be an actor. In the village where
Noé taught, he managed to create a new talent group with his students,
who amounting to publish even in national periodicals transforming the
municipality in a provisional centre to school literary movement. He
began, though in peril, to make active the children of political
deportees (act strictly forbidden by regime). At the same time he was
trying to publish criticism, translations by Russian and Italian, poetry,
etc, and prepared a collection of stories, but in vain, there was no
answer by publishers.
In
1985 dictator Hoxha died. His successor, Ramis Alia, realizing that "evil"
would come from intellectuals, created a climate seemingly more lenient
in dealing with writers and artists. Noé was transferred in Lushnje to
teach in main high schools.
In
1987 finally succeeded to publish the poetry book "Blue Colts", but
censored by regime immediately after publication and partly republished
in 1988 with many torn pages of poems that should not be circulated.
The years 1989-1990 represent the political turning point of East Europe
and mark the beginning of Noé’s most productive period. In 1990, he
found the Party of Free Will (PFW) with other unsatisfied intellectuals.
Understanding the proximity to the Democratic Party (DP) program (in its
beginning the party of intellectual youth and students), Noé wanted to
step in and included in the party with his supporters. (The main reason
was economic failure of PFW.) Observing since the beginning, betrayal of
ideas on which the DP was established, Noé and some other members left
DP and went to strengthen the ranks of the newly born Republican Party
(RP). Noé was elected member of the National Leadership Committee of RP
in which he will become quickly a prominent personage and will influence
resolving main problems as the election twice of the RP president, and
elimination of pro-communist fraction inside the party. Simultaneously,
Noé lead the party of Lushnje region (main container of the Republican
Party) and dealt with organization of Republicans in other districts of
the country.
In
those years, besides politics, Noé was engaged in journalism. He found
newspaper Ora e Fjales (Word Time) and influenced the image of another
opposition newspaper, Republika. He wrote too many articles using
different names. At the same time, the field of battle was not only to
fight against communism dictatorship, but especially against new
political monism represented by the "crypto-communist" party in power.
Also, he was very active in denouncing the infiltration of organized
crime in nomenclatures of the East Europe. At rallies and articles, Noé
will say only the truth, risking his life and becoming prey to the court
of Tirana, in April 1992.
With betrayed ideals and helpless to save himself and his family (his
wife- a judge, and son), Noé was obligated to leave Albania and sought
political asylum in Italy (in 1992, after the so-called "victory of
democracy in the East", Noé's family was the only one in Italy that was
given political asylum).
With interviews, articles, published books, and with speeches in streets
and theaters, Noé was the first who gave the alarm for everything that
was going on, and especially for the future of Albania, the Balkans and
Eastern Europe.
In
Italy, Noé has published The Reign of Prohibition (Dismisuratesti,
1995), To Applaud Caligula (Florence Book, 1997), With the Cross on Back
to Galilee (Libroitaliano, 1999), Suicide of the Leaves, translations
from Albanian into Italian of Ferdinand Laholli (Dismisuratesti, 1995),
and Crowd’s Destiny, poetry of Hajdin Abazi, ( Dismisuratesti, 1996).
Noé has translated selected poetry from many other Albanian authors as
F.Haliti, V.Zhiti, J.Radi, etc. He also has translated from Italian into
Albanian selected poetry from Pascoli, Pavese, Croce, Ungaretti,
Quasimodo, Mestrovich, etc. A good part of his works is written in
Italian and Albanian, and books are illustrated by the author himself (covers,
murals, and photo poetry). Noé’s works have been translated in German,
Swedish, English, Romanian, Spanish, and are published or sold in more
than 70 countries, as in Italy, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, Austria,
USA, India, Japan, Canada, Australia, England, New Zealand, Ireland,
France, Norway, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, China, Russia, and some of
the Arab countries. His verses are included in world anthologies in
English and German.
About Noé 's works have written major Italian and foreign newspapers as
"Il Messaggero", "Il Tempo", "Dismisura", "Ciociaria oggi", "Gazzeta di
Parma", "CIR-Notizie", "Alto Adige "," La Nazione "," Il Tirreno ","
Journal of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry "," Das Boot ", " Log
"," Rustic Rub "," Parnassus of World Poets”, and in the most bilingual
magazines of Albanian diasporas in the world. His works are introduced
by important personages of Italian literature and politics, from
national leaders of Amnesty International in Rome, to Gianfranco Fini,
etc. It is worth mentioning important interviews given occasionally in
television channels of RAI, Mediaset, TVN, RTTR, GBR, etc. and echo made
by them and the Italian national radio for the works and personality of
Noé.
Attilio Bertolucci *
*
Introduction of the book "To Applaud Caligula", Florence, 1997
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