Several thousand people attended the funeral of the Albanian writer Ismail Kadare today in Tirana, while a minute's silence was observed throughout the country.
Kadare's remains were displayed at the entrance to the Opera House on Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, and some of his poems were recited in the background.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said that Kadare placed Albanian literature in the pantheon of world literature.
The government in Tirana declared two days of mourning, while in Kosovo one day of mourning was declared today.
Officials from Kosovo and North Macedonia also attended the funeral.
Kadare was buried in a private ceremony attended by family members, which took place after the state ceremony.
Kadare died on July 1 as a result of a heart attack.
DON'T MISS IT
The writer gained international fame after the publication of the work "General of the Dead Army" in 1963, when Albania was still ruled by the communist government of the late dictator Enver Hoxha.
He fled Albania for France in 1990, just a few months before the fall of the communist regime following student protests the previous December. He lived in Paris and recently returned to Tirana.
Kadare has won numerous international awards for his works, which include more than 80 novels, plays, screenplays, poems, essays, and his works have been translated into 45 languages. He was mentioned on several occasions as a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
He is the author of the novels "Broken April", "Chronicle in Stone", "The Castle", "General of the Dead Army", as well as many other works and has been one of the most popular figures in Albanian literature for more than 60 years.
Bonus video:
