A native of Prizren, Shukriu was born on 22 October 1950.She earned a master's degree in archaeology from the University of Belgrade in 1972; in October 1990 she finished her doctorate in the same discipline at the University of Pristina.[1][2] First employed by the Kosovo Museum, she then taught archaeology in Pristina.[1][2] In 1989 she joined the Democratic League of Kosovo, in whose foreign relations she took a role.[1][2] From 1995 until 2000 she chaired its women's forum, and she was also a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo for the party.[1] She was chair of the Kosovo Council for Cultural Heritage from 2009 to 2012, and the vice-president of the PEN Center of Kosovo.[3]
As an archeologist, Shukriu has been called the 'founder of Dardanology".[4] Shukriu was responsible for the discovery of the Goddess on the Throne (Hyjnesha në Fron), a terracotta figure which has become a symbol of the culture of Kosovo Albanians.[3] She researched the fortified settlements in places such as Strezovc, Marec, Gushicë, Vucak, Godanc, Korishë, Batushë, Harilaç.[2][4]
Shukriu founded the Archaeological Institute of Kosovo, and was a supporter of the Opera and Ballet of Kosovo, the Kosovo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Kosovo Ballet.[3] Shukriu was awarded the “Dea Dardanciae” award by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.[3] She also won the 2019 Beqir Musliu Literary Award, the Award of the Writers' Association of Kosovo in 1990, and the scientific book of the year award in 1996.[2]
Shukriu wrote a number of verse collections and plays, as well as several non-fiction works.[1] Among the first Kosovar women to publish poetry in Albanian, she graduated from the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 2005.[5] She continued to teach archaeology and ancient history at the University of Pristina.[5] Shukriu died in January 2023, at the age of 72.[6]
