Robert Elsie

Robert Elsie
Born	(1950-06-29) June 29, 1950 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Awards	Albanian Medal of Gratitude
Academic work
Main interests	Albanian history, culture
Notable works	Albanian Literature : A Short History The Highland Lute (Lahuta e Malcís): The Albanian National Epic.

Robert Elsie (born 1950) is a scholar who specializes in Albanian literature and folklore. Because he benefited the positive image of Albania, the President of Albania considered him "a good Albanian" and awarded him with the Medal of Gratitude on 15 May 2013.

Life

Born on June 29, 1950 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Elsie studied at the University of British Columbia, graduating in 1972 with a diploma in Classical Studies and Linguistics. In the following years, he continued his post-graduate studies at the Free University of Berlin, at the École Pratique des Hautes Études and at the University of Paris IV: Paris-Sorbonne, at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies in Ireland, and at the University of Bonn, where he finished his doctorate on Linguistics and Celtic Studies in 1978 at the Linguistics Institute.

From 1978 on, Elsie visited Albania several times with a group of students and professors from the University of Bonn. For several years, he also attended the International Seminar on Albanian Language, Literature and Culture, held in Prishtina, Kosovo. From 1982 to 1987, he worked for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bonn, and from 2002 to 2013 for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, in particular as an interpreter for several noted cases including the trial of Slobodan Milošević.

As a translator Robert Elsie offers the reader “a selection of songs from the best known cycle of Albanian epic verse”.

Works

Elsie, a writer, translator, interpreter, and specialist in Albanian studies, is the author of numerous books and articles, focusing on various aspects of Albanian culture and affairs.

Publications

The below are selected publications (author, editor or translator). Robert Elsie has published about 60 books in English, Albanian or German, of which he was author or editor.

• Robert Elsie, editor (2006). Balkan Beauty, Balkan Blood : Modern Albanian Short Stories (Writings from an Unbound Europe). Northwestern University Press. ISBN 0-8101-2336-3. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Robert Elsie (2006). Albanian Literature: A Short History. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-84511-031-5.
• Robert Elsie and Janice Mathie-Heck, editors (2004). Songs of the Frontier Warriors: Kenge Kreshnikesh--Albanian Epic Verse in a Bilingual English-Albanian Edition. Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers; Bilingual edition. ISBN 0-86516-412-6. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Visar Zhiti, Robert Elsie (Translator) (2004). The Condemned Apple : Selected Poetry. Green Integer; Bilingual edition. ISBN 1-931243-72-7. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)
• Robert Elsie (2011). Historical Dictionary of Kosovo. Historical Dictionaries of Europe. Vol. 79. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7231-8.
• Robert Elsie (2010). Historical Dictionary of Albania. Historical Dictionaries of Europe. Vol. 75. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6188-6.
• Robert Elsie (2013). Leo Freundlich: Die Albanische Korrespondenz, Agenturmeldungen aus Krisenzeiten. Oldenburg Verlag. ISBN 978-3-486-70716-8.
• Robert Elsie (2013). Biographical Dictionary of Albanian History. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-78076-431-3.
• Robert Elsie (2013). The Cham Albanians of Greece: A Documentary History. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-780760-00-1.
• Robert Elsie (2013). The Balkans Wars: British Consular reports from Macedonia in the Final Years of the Ottoman Empire. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-780760-76-6.

External links

• Elsie's personal site.