Thousands of people paid their last respects to Ismail Kadare in a state funeral held in Tirana Wednesday, with a minute's silence held nationwide in memory of the renowned Albanian novelist and poet who died earlier this week.

Thousands of Albanians gathered in Tirana on Wednesday to pay tribute to their country's best-known novelist Ismail Kadare, who died on Monday after a heart attack.

BELGRADE (Reuters) - Ismail Kadare, an acclaimed Albanian novelist and playwright who opposed the long rule of late Communist dictator Enver Hoxha, has died in a Tirana hospital after having a heart attack, local television cited his editor as saying. He was 88.

Renowned Albanian novelist Ismail Kadare has died after being rushed to a hospital in the country's capital, Tirana. He was 88.

The Albanian literary giant was best known for works including "Broken April" and "The General of the Dead Army", chronicling life under communist dictator Enver Hoxha by way of allegorical stories.

The news of Albanian writer Ismail Kadare's death on June 30 stunned global readers, who also include writers from Central Europe and the Balkans where he enjoyed a particular fame.

Novelist Ismail Kadare -- who has died aged 88 -- used his pen as a stealth weapon to survive Albania's  paranoid communist dictator Enver Hoxha."Against whom was Enver Hoxha protecting me?

While writing under a dictatorship, he won widespread acclaim for novels such as “The General of the Dead Army.” He received the Man Booker International Prize.