The scientific conference “Father Donat Kurti, the violet of Albanian letters”, was organized today in Shkodër by the Franciscan Province of Albania and “Luigj Gurakuqi” University on the 120th anniversary of the death of Franciscan Father Donat Kurti. The scholars who participated emphasized his multifaceted contribution to the national culture and, in particular, to the collection and publication of the folklore wealth of the people. As Father Vitor demaj says, Father Donat Kurti is the co-author of “Visare te Kombit”, author of “Songs of Kreshniks and Legends” and of many works and studies in the field of literature, language and faith.
“As Father Zef Pllumi also says, the purple of Albanian letters was true. His creativity was truly great. Since he entered the Franciscan college and then graduated in Rome, he continued his collaboration with Hylli e Drita, Zani e Shna Ndout, Father Gjergj Fishta, Father Anton Harapin, who noticed in Father Donat Kurti a capable man, the most dealing with various issues of Albanian culture”
Today, the Franciscan library opened an exhibition with the manuscripts of Father Donat Kurti. There are 37 works in the manuscript, most of them dedicated to the national tradition in the field of folklore, but also of religious faith.
Father Vitor Demaj says that, like many other clerics, after the decision of the communist regime, the Franciscan Donat Kurti was arrested and convicted on the charge of bringing weapons into the Franciscan church of Shkodra.
“Pater Donat Kurti was arrested and entered prison in 1945, spent 17 years in prisons and internment camps, which he described very beautifully in his poetic work “Flower m’lule”. So, he is truly a personality who deserves to be remembered, deserves to be read, deserves to be brought to our attention for his contribution in the spiritual aspect and in the cultural aspect, in certain areas of our Albanian culture”
The author of Visions of the Nation and many other works of national value, the Franciscan Father Donat Kurti, passed away on November 10, 1983, in the city of Shkodra, in a poor hut, at the age of 80, leaving behind with dozens of studies and books in manuscript, most of them newly published in 7 volumes from the French Province of Albania