| Skënder Luarasi | |
| Birth Name: | Skënder Petro Luarasi |
| Birth Date: | 19 January 1900 |
| Birth Place: | Luaras, Ottoman Empire (modern Albania) |
| Death Place: | Tirana, Albania |
| Nationality: | Albanian |
| Parents: | Petro Nini Luarasi (father) |
| Signature: | Skënder Luarasi (nënshkrim).svg |
Skënder Petro Luarasi (19 January 190027 April 1982) was an Albanian scholar, writer and anti-fascist activist.
Luarasi was born in Luaras of Kolonjë region (back then Ottoman Empire, today's Albania) on 19 January 1900. He was the son of Albanian patriot Petro Nini Luarasi, descendant of the Kostallari family of the Luaras village, and Lino Sevo. Though Luarasi was a Protestant, he named his son Skënder to refer to the Albanian National Hero Scanderbeg. The poet Naim Frashëri was his godfather.
Luarasi performed the first studies in Albanian-language schools of Negovan and Korçë (1909-1911). After the death of his father by poisoning, he was sent to Robert College of Istanbul (1912-1913). Luarasi would continue his studies at Easton Academy in US (1914-1916), International College in Springfield, MA in US (1916-1918), Classis Gymnsium in Freistadt, Austria, (1922-1926) and graduated from the Faculty of Philology at University of Vienna, Austria in 1930. During his return in Albania (1920-1922) he worked as a teacher in the schools opened by American Red Cross in Elbasan District.
Luarasi started his literary activity since 1917. During the 30s he would distinguish himself as teacher, critic, journalist, translator, playwright, and director and cooperator of several press periodicals. He was editor-in-chief of the periodicals Studenti ("The Student"), 1920 in US, Djalëria ("Boyhood"), Austria, 1927-1928, and the magazine Vullnetari i Lirisë ("Volunteer of Freedom"), Spain, 1937, together with Petro Marko. The last was a 20-page periodical of Albanian volunteers participating in the Spanish Civil War as anti-fascists.
During the years 1930-1936 Luarasi taught at the Technical School of Tirana, Vlora, and Shkodra, until he left for Spain to join the International Brigades. He had been previously arrested and imprisoned three time by the Zogist regime.
During the Italian and German Occupation he was arrested and interned in several concentration camps, including Vernet, Gurs, St.Cyprien, etc.
After World War II, he was elected representative of Kolonje region in the Albanian Assembly (1945). Luarasi was one of the initiator of the foundation of Albanian League of Writers and Artists and member of the presidium until November 1949 when he was expelled for several years from the League due to his anti-conformist behavior.
Until his retirement (1967), he worked as teacher and historian in the State Pedagogic Commission, Qemal Stafa High School, the Publishing Company of the Science Institute, Pedagogical School, "Jordan Misja" Artistic Lyceum, and Faculty e History-Linguistics of the University of Tirana (where he established the English language major).
Until 1992, his activity focused on publicistics, monographs, theatrical plays, historical and literary studies.
Luarasi was awarded "Flag Order" (1960) and "Honor of the Nation" (1996) by the Albanian government with the motivation "For distinguished patriotic, anti-fascist, democratic, literary, and educative activity".
Luarasi died on 27 April 1982. Several schools in Albania and Kosovo are named after him.[1]