Career
On 24 December 2002 she was awarded the Prize "Honor of the Nation" by the Albanian president Alfred Moisiu. Before her death in 2014, she lived in Switzerland. The first to discover Zela"s talents were her school teachers.
She was not only talented in music, but also in painting and theater.
Zela was only ten years old when she began to sing folk songs from the Myzeqe region. She would often casually sing in her city of Lushnje"s parks, attracting the passersby.
Nevertheless, she went to Tirana to compete in order to study at the prestigious School of Arts, but was not accepted, and attended Qemal Stafa High School, where she began to learn the guitar. Zela was first appointed in Army"s Ensemble (Albanian: Ansambli i Ushtrisë), then in that State"s Ensemble (Albanian: Ansambli Shtetëror), and finally the Ensemble of Songs and Dances (Albanian: Ansambli i Këngëve dhe Valleve).