Xhemal Broja (1918-1976)
Director, actor, playwright, critic, teacher!
Former member of the Communist Group of Shkodra. A historical name of the Albanian theater and our art institutions.
Born in Shkodër on March 24, 1918, in the bosom of a citizen family, the son of lawyer and deputy, Zenel Broja. In his hometown, he attended the Saverian College, but after the religious schools were closed with the Ivanaj Law, Broja went to the Gymnasium of Shkodra together with Qemal Stafa. Alongside with Stafa, Pipa, Gjeçi and Radi, they took control of the company “Albanian Covenant”, which was formed in 1931 under the direction of Ernest Koliq.
They were given after the organization of amateur theatrical performances, as well as the publication of the magazine “Shkëndija”, where Broja also wrote. With the supply of literature in the Serbian language by Vasil Llazari and the meetings at Selim Shpuza’s house, Broja also became part of the first cells of the Communist Group of Shkodra.
He continued his higher studies with a state scholarship at the Faculty of Law in Grenoble, France. There he followed the course of literature and dramaturgy at the same time. In this period, he became active in the movement of the French Communist Party. When Albania was invaded on April 7, 1939, the young Albanian anti-fascists studying in France protested together with the French in front of the Italian consulate.
There Xhemal Broja prepared and delivered the speech of the occasion. For financial reasons, he stopped his studies in Grenoble to continue them in Italy alongside his friend Selfixhe Ciu and Qemal Stafa. Even here, the anti-fascist commitment continues until he decides to stop his studies and return to Shkodër, where the couple opens a bookstore that radiates culture and patriotism among young people. 
After the demonstration of February 22, 1942, accused as the main organizers, his wife was arrested, while Xhemal Broja went underground and went to the Postriba area, where a partisan core was created, which later became the “Perlat Rexhepi” battalion.
In August 1944 until the liberation of the country, he directed the technique of the illegal press. While he was a member of the Presidency of the National Liberation Council of the district. In 1947 Broja was interned in Gusmar, Kurvelesh and again in 1966 in the mud of Myzeqe in Lushnje.
Theater was one of his passions and talents since high school, when he wrote plays such as “Spy”, “Bajram Curri”. During the 30’s he played as an actor and also played the role of director in some of those shows of those years. Broja was the first director of the State Theater (later the People’s Theatre, the same institution that would be named the National Theatre), holding this position for over 20 years.
Xhemal Broja has given a great help in the construction of the Opera and Ballet Theater, the Puppet Theater as well as the State Theater (Popular Theater), which were initially organized within the same administrative structure and directorate, even in the same building (as nowadays the demolished building of TK). He is among the initiators of the creation of the high school for actresses “Aleksander Moisiu” near the Popular Theater in 1959.
In recent years, after numerous demotions, he worked as an administrator at the “Shqiperia e Re” Kinostudio, only to be deported again to an agricultural farm in Lushnje.
Xhemal Broja wrote many stage pieces, skits, one-act comedies, essays and various articles for the theater. Among them are the dramas: “Under occupation” (1947); “The Fight” (1956); “The Dragon of Dragobia” (1957); “Majlinda”; “Deep roots”; “Shadow and light”; “Linda”, for some time, appeared on the stage of the Popular Theater, staying relatively long in the repertoire of this theater.
Broja has translated works such as “Men’s School”, “The Deputy”, “Titanic Waltz”, “The Gardener’s Dog”, a work translated in collaboration with his wife, some of which have remained in the drawers of institutions or in the family archive.
It will be Xhemal Broja himself who will write the first university texts for the History of world theater, History of dramatic art, Methodology of theatrical art and Theatrical Dictionary. In addition to acting in several theater performances, he also performed in cinematography in 1963 in the film “Special Task”, albeit an episodic role.
Xhemal Broja passed away on September 17, 1976, after a serious illness.
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Albanian Cinematography in activity since 2013
Writing based on these references: Andon Pano “20 years in the People’s Theater” – impressions and memories – manuscript, 1977. | Mezhit Premci “Criticism 1 – drama, directing, acting OMSCA, 2008 / p. 17-25. | Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
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