Lea Ypi
Lea Ypi was born in 1979 in Durrës, Albania. She is a university professor and teaches political theory at the London School of Economics (LSE). She studied philosophy and literature at Sapienza University of Rome and received her PhD from the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence. Her academic interests include normative political theory, Enlightenment political thought (particularly Kant), Marxism, critical theory, nationalism, and the intellectual history of the Balkans, especially Albania. She has published numerous academic papers in the field of political theory. Recently, the British magazine Prospect named her one of the ten most important thinkers in the world.
She is the author of several academic books, while she became widely known to a broader readership through her memoir Free: Coming of Age at the End of History. The book received the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize" and the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize," and was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, the Baillie Gifford Prize, and the Gordon Burn Prize. It was named Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Affairs, and The Sunday Times. Преведена е на повеќе од 35 јазици.
Free
Translation to Macedonian: Kalina Maleska
„Ili-ili“, Skopje, 2024
BOOKSTAR AWARD, 2026
This powerful memoir explores the complex and turbulent journey of growing up and coming of age in post-communist Albania. As a young schoolgirl, Ypi was raised under a strict totalitarian regime that promised its citizens a future of perfect freedom. But when the regime collapsed in Albania, the foundations of her society crumbled, and Ypi’s world was suddenly disrupted. Her story takes readers through a period of intense personal and political upheaval, as she witnesses the collapse of communism, the rise of neoliberalism, and her own coming of age.
Through vivid storytelling and profound reflection, Ypi explores the deep contradictions surrounding the concept of freedom, identity, and the price of change. With an insightful perspective on the intersection of the personal and the political, Freedom raises fundamental questions: What is true freedom? How do historical and political forces shape our lives, even from childhood? Ypi’s unique perspective offers an intimate and intellectually compelling exploration of what it means to be free, both in theory and in reality.
The book received the Royal Society of Literature’s Ondaatje Prize" and the Slightly Foxed Best First Biography Prize," and was shortlisted for the Costa Book Award, the Baillie Gifford Prize, and the Gordon Burn Prize. It was named Book of the Year by The New Yorker, The Washington Post, The Financial Times, The Times Literary Supplement, Foreign Affairs, The Sunday Times and now she is also the recipient of the BookStar Award 2026.…