Marie Kraja

Marie Kraja or Marie Paluca (24 September 1911 – 21 November 1999) was an Albanian opera singer who is particularly known for her delivery of Albanian folk songs.

Life Kraja was born in 1911 in Zadar, Kingdom of Dalmatia, then part of Austria-Hungary, in a Roman Catholic family. She was a relative of Mother Teresa, and she would later organize the funeral services for her mother and sister. When she was six, her family moved to Shkodra. Although she was an immigrant, her family were Albanian and she had lived in a small Albanian community in Zadar. In Albania she learnt local wedding and love songs.

In 1937 she gave a recital in Bari, Italy, and the following year she gave concerts in Munich, Germany.

Kraja died in Tirana in 1999. She had been awarded the highest recognition for artists, the People's Artist of Albania title.