Muzafer Korkuti Albanian archaeologist Country: Albania

1. Early Life and Education
2. Soviet and Chinese Studies
3. Archaeological Expeditions
4. Leadership at Archaeological Institutions
5. Later Career and Contributions

Early Life and Education

Born in southern Albania, Muzafer Korkuti initially worked as an elementary school teacher in the village of Here. However, his passion for knowledge led him to study physics at Tirana University.

Soviet and Chinese Studies

In 1959, Korkuti was sent to the USSR for training, spending two months at the Institute of Archaeology in Moscow and two years as a postgraduate at Leningrad University. After the rupture of Soviet-Albanian diplomatic relations, he returned to Tirana and completed his studies at Tirana University, earning a dissertation on the burials of Apollonia.

Archaeological Expeditions

Korkuti's involvement in archaeology included participating in excavations at the Neolithic settlement of Maliq. In 1965, he traveled to China for nine months, where he excavated a Paleolithic settlement and visited Neolithic and Bronze Age sites. In the late 1960s, he also participated in archaeological excavations in Romania.

Leadership at Archaeological Institutions

From 1967 to 1976, Korkuti headed the Archaeological Center. Following political directives, he was briefly assigned to a provincial post. However, he was reinstated as head of the Archaeological Institute in the late 1980s and re-elected to the position in 1998.

Later Career and Contributions

Korkuti continued to participate in excavations of significant sites, including the Franchthi Cave in Greece and the Konispol Caves discovered in the 1990s. He also served as Director of the Institute of Archaeology in Tirana and Deputy Chairman of the Albanian Academy of Sciences.