TIRANA, Albania (AP) — Thousands of people paid their last respects to Ismail Kadare in a state funeral held in Tirana Wednesday, with a minute's silence held nationwide in memory of the renowned Albanian novelist and poet who died earlier this week.
Kadare's coffin, surrounded by National Guard officers, lay in state in the entrance hall of the Opera and Ballet Theater in the capital's central Skanderbeg Square as his poems were recited in the background.
“He came, wrote and left,” Prime Minister Edi Rama said during the ceremony, adding that Kadare had put Albanian literature “into the pantheon of world letters.”
As his coffin left the hall, the crowd outside in Skanderbeg Square clapped and threw flowers.
Two days of mourning have been declared in Albania, where flags flew at half-staff across the country. Neighboring Kosovo, with a predominantly ethnic Albanian population, also declared Wednesday a day of mourning. Officials from Kosovo and neighboring North Macedonia, which has a sizable ethnic Albanian minority, attended the funeral ceremony.
“Ismail Kadare will always be remembered as a promoter of national pride, like no one else,” said Kosovo President Bajram Begaj.
Kadare was buried in a private service attended by his family members following the funeral ceremony.
Thousands pay their respects to renowned Albanian writer Ismail Kadare at his state funeral
Thousands pay their respects to renowned Albanian writer Ismail Kadare at his state funeral
FILE - Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare arrives at the Elysee Palace to receive the France's Legion d'Honneur medal by French President Francois Hollande, in Paris, on May 30, 2016. Renowned Albanian novelist Kadare has died after being rushed to a hospital in the Albanian capital, his publishing editor said on Monday. He was 88. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
June 28-July 4, 2024
Hurricane Beryl powered through the Caribbean on its way to Mexico. Guatemala marked its army's 153rd anniversary. Campaigns opened in Venezuela with political rallies ahead of the July 28 election. Brazil soccer fans watched their team play in the Copa America tournament from Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro.
This gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published in the past week by The Associated Press from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The selection was curated by AP photo editor Jon Orbach based in Mexico City.
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A young Brazil fan watches his team's Copa America Group D soccer match against Colombia on a screen for fans on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Tuesday, July 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Bruna Prado)
Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva tosses a pumpkin in the air, accompanied by first lady Rosangela da Silva known as Janja, during the Harvest Plan presentation at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, left, and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez flash victory hand signs during a rally launching the official presidential campaign season, in Caracas, Venezuela, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
A participant smiles during the annual Gay Pride parade marking the culmination of LGBTQ+ Pride month, in Mexico City, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurea Del Rosario)
Venezuelan migrant boys play with a toy gun, crafted from square tubing and rope, at a shelter in Assis, Brazil, June 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Martin Mejia)
Uruguayan former President Jose Mujica casts his vote at a polling station during primary elections in Montevideo, Uruguay, June 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
Silverio, a twelve-day-old white rhino, runs next to his mother Hannah during his presentation at the Buin Zoo in Santiago, Chile, July 2, 2024. The baby rhino's birth is the third of this endangered species born at the Buin. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
Venezuela migrant Naiber Zerpa holds her son Mathias Marquez as they arrive at a temporary camp after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia, in Lajas Blancas, Panama, Friday, June 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
A reveler is silhouetted against a pair of angel wings as they help a trans performer with a costume during a Gay Pride parade marking the culmination of LGBTQ+ Pride month, in Asuncion, Paraguay, June 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Jorge Saenz)
Soldiers ask a tourist to evacuate Mirador beach ahead of Hurricane Beryl's expected arrival in Tulum, Mexico, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)
Homes destroyed by Hurricane Beryl lie in Clifton, Union Island, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Thursday, July 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lucanus Ollivierre)
Fishermen pull a boat damaged by Hurricane Beryl back to the dock at the Bridgetown Fisheries in Barbados, July 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)
