Born to a
Catholic Albanian family in
Shkodra, where he also attended his first lessons at the local
Jesuit College. In 1918 his father send him to study in the jesuit directed "Cesare Arici" college, in
Brescia; and afterwards in
Bergamo. Then at the
University of Padua, and became knowledgeable in Albanian folk history. He began to write under pseudonyms, such as
Hilushi,
Hilush Vilza and
Borizani. In the 1920s and 1930s Koliqi was the founder of leading magazines in Albania, such as the
Illyria magazine, and others, which covered geography and culture in the country. He also was Minister of Education at the time of the fascist puppet
Albanian Kingdom during
World War II, when he sent two hundred teachers to establish Albanian schools in the
occupied Yugoslav area of
Kosovo. As a writer many of his literary works were banned even though he had political connections, which is partly why they were banned for this very reason because of his political views. He became creative in prose, and together with
Mitrush Kuteli is considered the founder of modern Albanian prose. He translated into Albanian the works of the great Italian poets:
Dante Alighieri,
Petrarch,
Ludovico Ariosto,
Torquato Tasso,
Giuseppe Parini,
Vincenzo Monti, and
Ugo Foscolo. He distinguished himself in the translation of an anthology of Italian poetry in 1963. In his books such as
Hija e Maleve (), 1929,
Tregtar flamujsh (), 1935, and
Pasqyrat e Narçizit (), 1936, Koliqi brings a unique spirituality to Albanian literature. He died in Rome in 1975. == Works ==