Kraja was born in 1911 in Zadar, Kingdom of Dalmatia, then part of Austria-Hungary, in a Roman Catholic family.

[3] In 1930 she started her singing studies at the Singschule (now University of Music and Performing Arts Graz), which she completed in 1934.

After graduation she started to teach at a secondary school in Shkodra, then at the Queen Mother Women's Institute in Tirana.

She worked with Lola Gjoka, who was the arranger of the harmonies and also the pianist, and together they recorded over 300 songs.

The opera was called Mrika, with Prenkë Jakova as composer, and Llazar Siliqi as librettist.