Kristaq Antoniu

Kristaq Antoniu (December 25, 1907 – March 17, 1979), also known as Cristache Antoniu in Romanian, was a Romanian operetta tenor, baritone, and actor. He was a People's Artist of the People's Republic of Albania.

Born in Bucharest to an ethnic Albanian family, he lived in Romania, graduating from the Mimic Drama College of Bucharest and the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome. He acquired much of his celebrity by acting in Romanian cinema roles during the late 1920s and early 1930s.

As a concert master and operetta singer, he toured Europe with a group of musicians. He settled in Albania in 1935, and started an expanded on his artistic reputation, being widely esteemed for his accomplished interpretation of classical arias and folk songs. A recording of folk songs done for the Columbia society in 1942 was largely arranged by Pjetër Dungu.

Antoniu died in Tirana.

External links

• Cristache Antoniu at the Internet Movie Database
• (Albanian) M. Blloshmi, "Kristaq Antoniu, një nga yjet e parë të artit shqiptar", in Shekulli