Education
Shtjefen Kurti studied in Albania, Graz, Feldkirch, Innsbruck and Rome.
Shtjefen Kurti studied in Albania, Graz, Feldkirch, Innsbruck and Rome.
Kurti was ordained priest in Rome on 13 May 1924. Father Kurti was a parish priest in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (an area including modern-day Kosovo). In 1929, together with others, he wrote a memorandum to the authority of Geneva regarding the protection of Albanians in Kosovo.
He was then forced to flee by the Yugoslavian government and returned to Albania.
In Albania he was the parish priest in Zhejë and in 1930 in Gurëson From 1936 he was the parish priest in Tirana.
Kurti was arrested for the first time in Tirana on 28 October 1946 and imprisoned, at first in Tirana, then later in Burrel. He was sentenced to death, but his sentence was changed to 20 years" imprisonment and he was set free on 2 May 1963, after serving 17 years.
After his release, he was sent to live at barracks in Gurëson
Father Kurti accepted and baptized the boy secretly. This led to him getting re-arrested and sentenced to death. Father Kurti was executed on 20 October 1971 (according to another source, February 1972), although the Vatican became aware of it only in 1973, because it was kept secret from local authorities.