WRITER

Ismail Kadare

1936 - 2024

Photo of Ismail Kadare

Icon of person Ismail Kadare

Ismail Kadare (Albanian: [ismaˈil kadaˈɾe]; 28 January 1936 – 1 July 2024) was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Ismail Kadare has received more than 1,022,608 page views. His biography is available in 67 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 63 in 2019). Ismail Kadare is the 401st most popular writer (up from 520th in 2019), the 6th most popular biography from Albania (up from 9th in 2019) and the most popular Albanian Writer.

Ismail Kadare is most famous for his novels. He has written many novels, but the most famous are The General of the Dead Army, The Palace of Dreams, and The Pyramid.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.0M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 68.33

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 67

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 7.94

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.74

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Një pasqyrë jete njerëzore (Këngët e Serafina Topisë)
2007
Mostar
1999
Kangët e Milosaos
1968
Një kolonel midis Tiranës dhe Prishtinës
2007
Prilli i thyer
1985
Rrëfime të Arbrit
1975
The Siege
Fiction, History, Literature
In the early fifteenth century, as winter falls away, the people of Albania know that their fate is sealed. They have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire, and war is now inevitable. Soon enough dust kicked up by Turkish horses is spotted from a citadel. Brightly coloured banners, hastily constructed minarets and tens of thousands of men fill the plain below. From this moment on, the world is waiting to hear that the fortress has fallen. The Siege tells the enthralling story of the weeks and months that follow – of the exhilaration and despair of the battlefield, the constantly shifting strategies of war, and those whose lives are held in balance, from the Pasha himself to the technicians, artillerymen, astrologer, blind poet and harem of women that accompany him. Brilliantly vivid, as insightful as it is compelling, The Siege is an unforgettable account of the clash of two great civilisations. As a portrait of war, it resonates across the centuries and confirms Ismail Kadare as one of our most significant writers.
1974
Chronicle in Stone
World War, 1939-1945, Fiction, Fiction, historical, general
1973
The General of the Dead Army
Fiction, Albania in fiction, History
1963
Doruntine
Fiction, Social life and customs, Albanisch
The brother that has been dead for years brought his sister home from a faraway land.
1986
Broken April
Kanun, Fiction, general, New York Times reviewed
A venture into the strange (to us) world of the Albanian mountains, where the iron dictates of the "kanun", or blood feud, wrench apart the lives and peace of generation after generation. Although the protagonist is Gjorg, a young mountain man who, as of the first page of the novel, knows that by fulfilling the dictates of the kanun he will guarantee that his own life will end in one month, Kadare offers in addition a brutal portrait of the inhumanity of the Intellectual, in the person of Bessian...an academic to whom the blood and suffering of the peasants is the stuff of mythic and heroic beauty.
1982
The Three-arched Bridge
Fiction, Bridges, History
When the construction of a bridge built to link the Balkans to Europe is repeatedly and mysteriously sabotaged, an old ballad starts making the rounds at local taverns. The bards sing of a legend – a woman immured in a castle wall to prevent it from falling. Some say the bridge is being damaged by local ferrymen, others blame the vengeful water spirits. But this is a town where terror and superstition reign and a solution must be reached. So it is decreed: a willing person must be plastered into the bridge…
1978

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Ismail Kadare ranks 401 out of 7,302. Before him are Sándor Petőfi, Erich von Däniken, O. Henry, Jacques Prévert, Raymond Chandler, and Pietro Aretino. After him are Ágota Kristóf, Edmondo De Amicis, Henning Mankell, Henry James, Joseph Roth, and Dan Brown.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1936, Ismail Kadare ranks 18. Before him are Amancio Ortega, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Andrei Chikatilo, F. W. de Klerk, John McCain, and Valery Legasov. After him are Wilt Chamberlain, Dennis Hopper, Ursula Andress, Barack Obama Sr., Harald zur Hausen, and Uwe Seeler. Among people deceased in 2024, Ismail Kadare ranks 13. Before him are Alberto Fujimori, Fethullah Gülen, Peter Higgs, Paul Auster, Anouk Aimée, and Alice Munro. After him are Sven-Göran Eriksson, Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, Ismail Haniyeh, O. J. Simpson, Arno Allan Penzias, and Hassan Nasrallah.

Others Born in 1936

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Others Deceased in 2024

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In Albania

Among people born in Albania, Ismail Kadare ranks 6 out of 150. Before him are Skanderbeg (1405), Enver Hoxha (1908), Safiye Sultan (1550), Anastasius I Dicorus (430), and Ali Pasha of Ioannina (1750). After him are Sali Berisha (1944), Charles III of Naples (1345), Prince Marko (1335), Ramiz Alia (1924), Kara Ahmed Pasha (1450), and Zog I of Albania (1895).

Others born in Albania

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Among WRITERS In Albania

Among writers born in Albania, Ismail Kadare ranks 1. After him are Naim Frashëri (1846), Muhammad Nasiruddin al-Albani (1914), Sami Frashëri (1850), Dritëro Agolli (1931), Aleksandër Stavre Drenova (1872), Millosh Gjergj Nikolla (1911), Kostandin Kristoforidhi (1827), Pashko Vasa (1825), Fatos Kongoli (1944), Ndre Mjeda (1866), and Fatos Arapi (1930).

Albanian born Writers

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