Në vitin e shtatëmbëdhjetë – In the Seventeenth Year

Diary of prison Pages 334 Premio Alberto Moravia for the International Literature; “Fondo Moravia” Roma, Italy, 2002. “Në Vitin e Shtatëmbëdhjetë” (In the Seventeenth Year) his diary of his seventeenth years in prison. The book has been published in Tirana in 1994 and in Italy in 1994 under the title: Diario di un intellectuale in un gulag Albanese, Marco Editore, Lungro, 1994). Fatos Lubonja’s Prison Diary is a powerful and unflinching memoir, offering a rare and candid window into the soul of Communist Albania under Enver Hoxha. Winner of numerous prestigious literary awards, including the Moravia Prize, Lubonja—an intellectual, theorist, and son of a prominent victim of the regime’s purges—offers a deeply human account of his experiences in the notorious Spaç forced labor camp and the intellectual turmoil of his youth. With exceptional insight, Lubonja dismantles the myths surrounding Albania’s totalitarian past, exploring the intersection of Eastern despotism and Western techniques of control, while bearing witness to the profound toll on the nation’s culture and its intellectuals. His personal story weaves together the complex figures of Albania’s political elite, including Ismail Kadare, Ramiz Alia, and the omnipresent Sigurimi, offering a rare and invaluable perspective on the violence, resistance, and psychological aftermath of the regime. Prison Diary is a remarkable testament to the resilience of the human spirit under oppression, offering both an intimate portrait of an individual and a crucial document for understanding Albania’s tumultuous history and its journey from communism to the present.