Edith Durham’s book High Albania makes reference to the direct correlation between the Keqi brothers and the significance of the bloodlines.
Gjokaj was born around 1807 in the village of Milješ (Milesh) in Gruda near the town of Tuzi, to an Albanian Malësor family.
Gjokaj graduated with an MFA from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.