Mirko Gashi

Mirko Gashi (Serbian: Мирко Гаши/Mirko Gaši, 1939–1995) was a Yugoslav Albanian writer. He was born in Kraljevo, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, attended elementary school in Preševo and secondary school in Gnjilane. He studied journalism at the University of Belgrade and worked subsequently as a reporter for the newspaper Flaka e vëllazërimit (Flame of Brotherhood) in Skopje and for Radio Pristina. He was much admired in the 1980s for his verse, which was compiled in particular in the collections: Gjarpëri i shtëpise, Pristina 1980 (The House Snake); Arbor vitae, Pristina 1988 (The Tree of Life); and Plagë uji, Pristina 1990 (Water Wound). He also translated much Albanian-language literature into Serbian. Suffering increasingly from depression in later years, Gashi turned to alcohol for salvation and died of it in July 1995.