Vedat Kokona
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Vedat Kokona | |
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 Kokona on a 2013 stamp of Albania | |
| Born | August 7, 1913 |
| Died | October 14, 1998 (aged 85) |
| Occupations | Translator, writer, lexicologist |
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Vedat Kokona (August 7, 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 was born on August 7, 1913, in Izmir, Ottoman Empire, to an Albanian intellectual family, originating from Gjirokastra, Albania. His father, Elmaz, was a lawyer and a judge of the Ottoman Empire. Upon the family moving to Albania in 1920, he followed the primary school in Tirana. He finished in 1935 the Korçë Lyceum, then pursued higher studies in law in Paris, France.
Teaching years
After his law studies Kokona was appointed to the Civil Court of Krujë, which office he did not accept. Subsequently, he was appointed as a teacher of Albanian in the Korçë Lyceum. 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.
