12 Facts About Teodor Keko

Teodor Keko was an Albanian writer, journalist, and politician.

Teodor Keko studied at the Qemal Stafa High School, in Tirana, Albania.

Teodor Keko's parents were diplomats and served among others in China and Algeria.

Teodor Keko worked as a journalist for the literary newspaper Drita.

Teodor Keko quickly became critical of the newly elected Albanian President, Sali Berisha, whom he accused of authoritarianism.

Teodor Keko wrote for popular daily newspaper Koha Jone, strongly criticizing the first post-communist government, and later became editor of the Democratic Alliance Party newspaper Aleanca and of the weekly cultural and artistic magazine Aks.

On 10 March 1994 Teodor Keko was assaulted by two men with brass knuckles outside his Tirana apartment and heavily injured.

For several years, Teodor Keko contributed to Albanian politics, and from 1992 to 1996 he was a member of parliament, first for the Democratic Party and, from August 1993 for the Democratic Alliance Party.

Teodor Keko began publishing his first works in the 1980s when he became famous for his short stories.

Teodor Keko died aged 43 in Thessaloniki, Greece where he was receiving treatment, shortly after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Teodor Keko's last work, Hollesira fatale, was a bestseller in Albania in 2001.

The works of Teodor Keko are being translated into English by Robert Elsie.