Vedat Kokona

Vedat Kokona (August 8, 1913 – October 14, 1998)[1] was an Albanian translator, writer and lexicologist of the 20th century, well known for his dual dictionaries English-Albanian and French-Albanian and his contributions in Albanian lexicology and lexicography.

Kokona on a 2013 stamp of Albania

Early life

Kokona was born on August 8, 1913, in Izmir, Turkey, to an Albanian intellectual family, originating from Gjirokastra, Albania. His father, Elmaz, was a lawyer and a judge of the Ottoman Empire. Upon the return of their family to Albania in 1920, he followed the primary school in Tirana. He finished in 1935 the lyceum of Korca, then pursued higher studies in law in Paris, France.

Teaching years

After his law studies Kokona was appointed to the Civil Court of Kruja, which office he did not accept. Subsequently, he was appointed as a teacher of Albanian in the Lyceum of Korca. There, Kokona was distinguished as a gifted teacher. Subsequently, in the early 1940s he was appointed at the Gymnasium of Tirana.

During the fascist invasion, when Kokona worked as a teacher, he was required to spy on the students and to deal with work that he could not accept due to his principles and character. This was the reason why he felt that he had to resign from the teaching profession. After World War II he went back to the Gymnasium of Tirana, now "Qemal Stafa" High School. In 1949 he was appointed as an editor and translator in the publishing house "Naim Frasheri" and as a professor of French at the University of Tirana, where he taught until retirement.

Work

Vedat Kokona devoted most of life and work to French language. He was one of the best lexicologues of this language. He worked on and published different French-Albanian and Albanian-French dictionaries and also English-Albanian dictionaries.[2][3][4] His first dictionary was published in 1932. His last dictionary is a 40-thousand words work.

He is one of the most important Albanian authors in lexicology and lexicography.[5]

Kokona is one of the most renowned translators from French, Italian, English and Russian. He has made significant contributions in the field of translation of poetry and prose by bringing in Albanian language about 15 thousand verses from the poetry of the world.[6][7][8]

Recognition

Vedat Kokona holds numerous titles, orders and decorations. He holds a PhD "Honoris causa" from the University of Tirana and also is Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters, and Officer of the Order of the Academic Palms, two orders of chivalry, awarded by the French Government.

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gollark: Yes. However, having a language which actually ALLOWS YOU TO WRITE THAT as a generalized thing would be better without compromising elegance with weird special cases like Go also does.
gollark: Parallel iterators would make that code clearer, actually simpler (not Go-"simpler") and less error-prone.
gollark: I don't think the way Go encourages you to write code is very good.
gollark: I had a bug because I didn't put in the `src := source` line and something something closure. I probably could have accidentally messed up the waitgroup.

References
  1. ".radiandradi". Retrieved August 2, 2013.
  2. French Albanian Dictionary (Fjalor frengjisht-shqip) By Vedat Kokona Rilindja, 1990
  3. Albanian French Dictionary (Fjalor shqip-frengjisht) By Vedat Kokona, Raul Lilo, Kornelja Sima Botimet Toena, 1998 ISBN 99927-1-058-6, ISBN 978-99927-1-058-6
  4. Albanian English Dictionary (Fjalor shqip-anglisht) By Vedat Kokona Botimet Toena, 1998 ISBN 99927-1-042-X, 9789992710425
  5. Thërrime me mjaltë: gramatikë e vogël e Gjuhës Shqipe (Albanian Grammar) By Vedat Kokona Eureka, 1995
  6. Ëndra e një nate vere. (E përktheu: Vedat Kokona.). By William Shakespeare, Vedat Kokona Naim Frasheri 1968
  7. Tregime amerikane. E përktheu Vedat Kokona. [Translated from "Рассказы ... By Vedat Kokona "Naim Frasheri" 1955
  8. Saga e Forsajtve By John Galsworthy, Vedat Kokona "Naim Frasher" 1969
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