Edi Rama

His father was Kristaq Rama (1932–1998), a well-known sculptor born in Durrës who created numerous statues during the communist era in Albania.

His great-grandfather, also named Kristaq Rama, was an intellectual who advocated for Albanian independence and schools, and he originated from Berat before later relocating to Durrës.

Other ancestors from his paternal side come from the southeastern village of Dardhë, near Korçë.

His mother, Aneta Rama (née Koleka) (1938–2020), was a graduate of medicine from the southwestern village of Vuno, Vlorë, and a great-niece of Spiro Koleka, a member of the Politburo during Communist Albania.

Rama states that the Koleka family, going back some centuries, is of northern Mirditor origin, and that the surname was derived from Kol Leka.

Rama started painting early in his childhood.

During his teenage years, his talent was noticed by two influential Albanian painters of the time, Edi Hila and Danish Jukniu.

They encouraged Rama to further develop his painting skills in a professional context.

He attended and graduated from the Jordan Misja Artistic Lyceum, an art school in Tirana.

As a teenager, Rama was involved in sports as a professional basketball player for Dinamo Tirana.

He was also part of the Albania national basketball team.

Edi Rama (born Edvin Kristaq Rama on 4 July 1964) is an Albanian politician, painter, writer, former university lecturer, publicist and former basketball player, who has served as the 33rd and incumbent Prime Minister of Albania since 2013 and chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania since 2005.

Born as Edvin Rama on 4 July 1964 in Tirana, Albania, he is the first of two children of Kristaq and Aneta Rama.

In 1982, he enrolled in the Academy of Arts in Tirana.

After graduating, Rama started working as an instructor at the Academy of Arts.

During this time, he organized several open student meetings, during which the Albanian communist government was publicly criticized.

Essays from those meetings were collected in the book Refleksione, which Rama published together with publicist Ardian Klosi in 1992.

Shortly before the fall of communism in Albania, Rama attempted several times to get involved with the incipient fight for democracy.

He tried to influence student protests and become part of the newly created Democratic Party of Albania but soon left after a quarrel over ideological matters with Sali Berisha.

In 1994, Rama moved to France, and tried to begin a career as a painter.

He and his former student, Anri Sala, exhibited their works in several art galleries.

During one of his trips back to Albania in January 1997, Rama suffered a physical assault.

While perpetrators were never found, there were concerns over the involvement of the State Secret Service given Rama's outspoken criticism towards the Albanian government.

He was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, an office he held until 2000.

In 1998, while in Albania for the funeral of his father, Rama was offered a cabinet position by then-Prime Minister of Albania Fatos Nano.

Later that year he was appointed Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

As a Minister, Rama immediately became known for his extravagance in a variety of ways, including his unique colorful dressing style.

His innovative cultural projects, coupled with his unusual clothing and rebellious political style, helped him attract a great level of support.

First elected mayor of Tirana in 2000, he was reelected in 2003 and 2007.

In October 2000, the Socialist Party of Albania endorsed Rama in the election for Mayor of Tirana.

The Democratic Party nominee was Besnik Mustafaj, an Albanian writer and diplomat.

Rama won 57% of the vote, and was sworn in as mayor.

After taking office, he undertook a radical campaign of bulldozing hundreds of illegal constructions and restoring many areas near Tirana's center and Lanë River into their initial form.

On 27 November 2002, Rama officially changed his first name to Edi.

The coalition of centre-left parties led by Rama in the 2013 Albanian parliamentary election defeated the incumbent centre-right coalition led by Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party of Albania.

His party has won all six elections since 2013—three parliamentary ones and three local ones.

He was one of the initiators of Open Balkan, an economic zone of the Western Balkans countries intended to guarantee the "Four Freedoms".

Rama was appointed prime minister for a second term following the 2017 Albanian parliamentary election.

Rama then won a third term following the 2021 Albanian parliamentary election in which he defeated the Democratic Party candidate Lulzim Basha for the second time in a row.

He is the only Albanian prime minister in history to have won three terms in a row.