Zenel Bastari

Zenel Bastari was an Albanian poet of the Bejtexhinj literary movement. A native of Tirana, he lived and worked from the end of 18th century until mid 19th century. Together with Hasan Zyko Kamberi and Nezim Frakulla he was part of the Bejtexhinj who focused on social and political criticism rather than Islamic moral and life. A precursor of the bourgeois critical-realism, he is also considered one of the first anti-feudal writers in Albania.

Zenel was born in Tirana, back then Sanjak of Scutari of Ottoman Empire, in late 18th century, and is mentioned to have lived in the era of Ali Pasha Tepelena. It is believed that the year of birth is 1765-70. He was the son of Ramë Hyka, a villager from nearby Bastar who had settled in Tirane (thus the family name Bastari) and a local woman. He had a brother named Rexhep. Zenel took his first lessons in the mejtep (religious school) in Tirana. He later entered the Madrasa of Tirana. Meanwhile, he worked as an assistant in a local esnaf shop dealing with silk and embroidering, therefore he mastered that profession (Albanian: gajtanxhi). After finishing the madrasa, he worked as a hodja for the rest of his life. There is no information on his religious teachers or people who influenced him, but from his work is derived that he was very well prepared in Islamic Mysticism and he was a follower of the Bektashi order of Sufism. Year of death is accepted to be between 1835-1840. He mentions in his poetry Baba Shemin, an actual public and Bektashi religious figure from Fushe-Kruje who died in 1831.

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