Pop Star Dua Lipa was recently granted Albanian citizenship – What is her heritage like?
Multi-talented musician Dua Lipa can now add “Albanian citizen” to her lengthy resume. The “Levitating” songstress was recently granted citizenship on Nov. 27, 2022, for being vocal about her Albanian heritage, which prompted some fans to wonder about her ethnicity. While Dua has never been shy to discuss her parents’ immigration to London, many are curious about her parents now as well.
What is Dua Lipa’s ethnicity? And what about her parents? Keep reading for everything you need to know about Dua’s heritage and her family.
What is Dua Lipa’s ethnicity? She was recently granted Albanian citizenship.
Although Dua was born and raised primarily in West Hampstead, London, England, she is Kosovo Albanian through her parents. Kosovo Albanians are, as of 2011, the largest ethnic group in Kosovo, comprising 92.93% of the population, according to the European Centre for Minority Issues Kosovo.
In an interview with Line of Best Fit in 2021, she explained that her parents had fled Kosovo in the 1990s when civil war and ethnic cleansing erupted. Dua said, “My grandmother on my mum’s side is from Bosnia. I think because of that my parents moved. There was just too much conflict, my parents wanted to finish their studies so they decided to move to London.”
Dua also revealed that she spoke Albanian at home with her family but she couldn’t read or write in the language. However, her mother’s friends from Kosovo regularly visited Dua’s family in London, easing the eventual transition from England back to Kosovo.
“I got to Kosovo and I really loved it there,” she said. “It’s way safer than London. There was a sense of community and safeness – everyone knows everyone in Kosovo, especially in Pristina.”
More recently, Dua was granted Albanian citizenship by President Bajram Begaj to honor her for “making Albanians famous throughout the world,” per Page Six. Dua herself said of the event, “I will be an Albanian with papers too,” before she took her citizenship oath at Tirana city hall.
Who are Dua Lipa’s parents?
Dua’s parents are Anesa (née Rexha) and Dukagjin Lipa. Dua’s father was the lead singer and guitarist of the Kosovan rock band Oda, and his passion for music influenced Dua’s early career. She revealed to The Guardian in 2018 that he was also training to be a dentist when war erupted in Kosovo, and her mother was training to be a lawyer.
Dua also told The Guardian that her grandfather, Seit Lipa, was the head of the Kosovo Institute of History. When war broke out in Kosovo, she says, the Serbians wanted to “rewrite history.” As such, her parents fled to London in 1992, where they stayed until 1999 when the war ended. Sadly, however, her grandfather passed away from a heart attack in 1999, with her parents unable to visit due to the border’s closure.
Although Dua loved living in Kosovo, she eventually moved back to England on her own to pursue a music career, and the rest, they say, is history! Congratulations to Dua on her new dual citizenship.
