Ismail Kadare was an Albanian novelist, poet, essayist, screenwriter, and playwright. He was a leading international literary figure and intellectual. He focused on poetry until the publication of his first novel, The General of the Dead Army, which made him famous internationally.
Ali Kelmendi was a Kosovar Albanian communist, an organizer of the communist movement in Albania and was posthumously a Hero of Albania under the communist government.
Ibrahim Rugova was a Kosovo-Albanian politician, scholar, and writer, who served as the President of the partially recognised Republic of Kosova, serving from 1992 to 2000 and as President of Kosovo from 2002 until his death in 2006. He oversaw a popular struggle for independence, advocating a peaceful resistance to Yugoslav rule and lobbying for U.S. and European support, especially during the Kosovo War.
Podujevë or Besianë is a city and municipality in the Pristina District in Kosovo. Podujevë is the largest municipality of Kosovo since it covers 632.59 km2 (244 sq mi) and is located along a regional motorway and also has railroad passing through it, which links the area to surrounding regions. Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, is located some 23 km (14 mi) to the south.
Music of Kosovo is music that originates from Kosovo, a country in the Balkans. Kosovo's population is mainly Kosovo Albanians, also known as Kosovars, and there are various minority ethnic groups as well. Kosovan music is closely related to that of neighbouring Albania, as well as to that of countries in the former Yugoslavia.
Kelmendi is a historical Albanian tribe (fis) and region in Malësia and eastern Montenegro. It is located in the upper valley of the Cem river and its tributaries in the Accursed Mountains range of the Dinaric Alps. The Vermosh river springs in the village of the same name, which is Albania's northernmost village. Vermosh pours into Lake Plav.
Jeton Neziraj is a playwright from Kosovo. He was the Artistic Director of the National Theatre of Kosovo and now he is the Director of Qendra Multimedia, a cultural production company based in Prishtina.
Pristina is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and district.
Esad Mekuli was an Albanian poet, critic and translator. He was the first president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. Robert Elsie considered him the father of modern Albanian poetry in Yugoslavia, and his influence in Kosovo remains immense.
Anna Bahriana or Ваhryana is a Ukrainian novelist, poet, playwright, and translator.
Classical music in Kosovo refers to the art music cultivated in Kosovo. The roots of classical music in Kosovo are found in the 1940s and include the time period from the times when Kosovo was part of Yugoslavia to this day. It can be said that there is a tradition of classical music in Kosovo, however, compared to other Balkan countries and especially European countries this tradition is younger. Classical music in Kosovo reaches back about 70 years. Even though in a short period of time, this music has evolved, passing through generations of composers and artists. In his book Albanian: Zhvillimi i stileve në veprat e kompozitorëve shqiptarë të Kosovës, Engjëll Berisha comments:
The diversity of styles in Albanian music [of Kosovo], its national patterns with sound idea-aesthetic foundations are a characteristic of the European musical reality, so many many works are of interest abroad, too, because during this relatively short period Albanian classical music in Kosovo has compensated for the delay in its development.
The literature of Kosovo is composed of literary texts written in Albanian, Serbian, Bosnian, and Turkish, specifically by authors of Kosovo. Kosovo produced several prominent writers in the Ottoman era. However, Ottoman authorities banned the written use of the Albanian language until 1912. This policy continued during Serb rule until the outbreak of World War II.
The Cinematography in Kosovo in the Albanian language began its activities after the foundation of Kosovafilm, which produced short films, documentaries, cartoons and later feature films. Since 2008, the central authority for cinematography in Kosovo has been Kosova’s Cinematography Center (KCC) though numerous independent film companies are active in Kosovo. Before Kosovafilm, there were no fully Kosovan films.
Historical monuments in Pristina are made up of 21 monuments out of a total of 426 protected monuments all over Kosovo. A large number of these monuments date back to the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Since 1945, the Yugoslav authorities followed the idea of constructing a modern Pristina by relying in the urban development motto “destroy the old, build the new” and this resulted with major changes in the structure of the buildings, their function and their surrounding environment. However, numerous types of monuments have been preserved, including four mosques, a restored orthodox church, an Ottoman bath, a public fountain, a clock tower, several traditional houses as well as European-influenced architecture buildings such as the Museum of Kosovo. These symbolize the historical and cultural character of Pristina as it was developed throughout centuries in the spirit of conquering empires.
Mark Lucgjonaj known by his pen name as Mark Pashku is an Albanian writer, journalist and professor of Albanian literature.
Fehmi Agani was a sociologist and politician in Kosovo who was considered to be the leading thinker and political strategist of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in the 1990s. He represented the LDK in international negotiations prior to the 1998–1999 Kosovo War, but was murdered, apparently by Serbian soldiers, during the war because his political attitudes.
Lulzim Tafa is a poet and academic. Tafa served as the Rector of AAB University, the largest non-public university in the Western Balkan region, from 2012 to 2020.
Musë Prelvukaj is a Kosovar artist born in Martinovići, near Gusinje and Plav in what is now Montenegro, on December 25, 1950.
The Çarshi Mosque, also known as the Bazaar Mosque and the Taş Mosque, is the oldest building in Pristina, Kosovo, and it marks the beginning of the old town. The foundation of this mosque was laid out in 1389 during the rule of the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I and its construction was continued during the reign of Sultan Murad II in the 15th century. The Çarshi Mosque was built to celebrate the Ottoman victory of 1389 in the Battle of Kosovo. Over the years, the mosque has undergone through several restorations. However, its stone-topped minaret has survived for over six centuries.
The Clock Tower in Pristina, Kosovo, was built in the 19th century by Jashar Pasha, after whom the Mosque is named not far from the Clock Tower. It served as a means of informing the town during the Ottoman Empire rule, in order to let people know when to pray as well as the traders closing their shops. The 26-meter high hexagonal clock tower was made of sandstone and bricks. The original tower was burned in fire and its bricks were used for reconstruction. The authentic bell was brought from Moldavia and has an inscription mentioning this fact. However, the circumstances of how the bell was brought to Pristina are not clearly known; its theft in 2001 is even more unclear. The same year, French KFOR troops assisted in installing a new clock by changing the old clock mechanism with an electric one.
