“We are all instruments. We give messages of peace”. It is enough to see the walls of his shop, filled with orders of honor and thanks received from high dignitaries, from His Holiness, Pope Francis, to the President of the Italian Republic, etc., to understand the motto of his life.

He has been living in Mantua for almost 3 decades, in this city, where cultural heritage is an important element of identity.

But, in this almost imposing city, with that appearance of a stopped time, Kozeli has tried and succeeded in creating an identity of its own. It has definitely been difficult, but when practicality and creativity come together, there is bound to be a result. Petrit Kozeli is known by Albanians and Italians. There are those who remember him as “the shoemaker of the Pope” or as the maker of shoes with the colors of the Italian and Albanian flags. This is true, but the story of Petri Kozeli does not start with the shoes. His first love was photography.

Before the 90s, he practiced the profession of photographer, and he even had the luck to be a witness of important moments at the threshold of the change of systems in Albania. Do you remember the portraits of the refugees with the Embassies?! Petrit Kozeli took photos of the passports of all the Albanians who entered the railings of the German Embassy. “The Municipal Services Company commissioned me to do this work. They are indelible moments from the memory. I still have it as a wound inside me. I remember women, men, old people climbing over the railings and it was terrible to see this sight, to happen in your country, what you had considered a paradise”, says Kozeli, while a wave of emotions overwhelms everyone. He would never leave Albania. Certainly not in that way. Not without a visa in the passport, as Torquato Cardilli had told the ambassador. What would take him away from Tirana was compassion and parental duty: the health of his minor son, who needed a more specialized diagnosis and treatment. At a time when it took months to get an Italian visa, he would get it in just a few days. It was the Italian ambassador himself who would vouch for him. He left for Italy only for 15 days, but came back again with a work contract, to follow the health of his son. Fate wanted him to settle in Mantua in this welcoming city, where he already feels at home. Without leaving the profession of photographer, he won another one that of shoemaker. Today, there is a shop in “Via Orefici”, where customers come and go, whom Petriti waits for and escorts them away with his lips on gas and a joke always ready. There is not a resident of that area who does not speak kindly of him. It’s generous. Small services are also performed for free and without a doubt customers will return there again.

His shop is clearly recognizable from the window, where two pairs of shoes are displayed, modeled with the colors of the Italian and Albanian flags. “It was like a message inside me: ‘Let’s move towards a better and more developed Italy.’ This meant ‘run with me’, ‘walk with me’… That’s how the idea was born to create shoes with the Italian flag. It was a sign of gratitude for this country that welcomed me, where I never felt racism”. They are not shoes to sell, but to testify, gratitude and a symbolic request, to be proud of one’s country.

But it would be those shoes that would make him famous, that artists, journalists and politicians would come down to him. It only took a few minutes for people to line up to take pictures. They came to me from Gazeta e Mantova and asked me to remove them from the window, as they wanted exclusivity. This article was enough to bring the Prefect of Mantova to my shop, who personally took care that the shoes went to the President of the Republic, and immediately I received the thanks along with the order “Cavaliere Ufficiale-Al merito della Repubblica Italiana”. But there was no way to miss the red and black shoes. “If I made the shoes with the Italian flag in three months, I needed 14 eyes for the Albanian one. It was difficult to realize the eagle, until experiment after experiment I managed to realize it through a “tattoo” technique. It was exactly such a couple that went to Pope Francis, who would make him even more famous. “When I started for his Holiness, under the motto ‘Walk together’, months passed until two secretaries of the Pope himself came here. I must tell you that my message did not go completely to the Vatican. Along with the shoes, I had sent him a letter, where I explained why I had made these shoes. A letter that had not arrived. When one of the secretaries read it, he told me that he would leave it on his desk and he would make sure he read it, as the Pope was getting a gift in a minute.. imagine…!!”. And so it happened that just a few days later comes the appreciation from Pope Francis, “Commendatore dell Ordine San Silvestro Papa”.

Among all the accolades that Kozeli has received, he is also the “Ambassador of the Nation”, which was handed to him just a few days ago by the Ambassador of Albania in Rome, Anila Lani, in the presence of the Minister of Culture, Elva Margariti, in Mantua. for “Festivaletteratura 2019”. With a motivation that valued his contribution as a model European citizen and as a bridge of peace in the world, Kozeli is now the “de jure” ambassador of Albania, who will modestly set an example for locals and newcomers, not to forget never the roots of origin.