KOVIA NIMIÄ

Actors & Actresses

Croatia
Dunja Rajter
(Našice, Yugoslavia, 3/3/1941)


Dunja Rajter is an actress and singer. She studied in the Theatre Academy of Zagreb, and then moved to Germany, where she achieved success. Initially known as theatre and cinema actress, in the 70's she also performed as singer and some of her songs reached the German hit parade. Since the civil war that divided former Yugoslavia, she has been involved in supporting needy children and hospitals in her native country. She has also recorded the Croatian National Anthem for the Football World Cup in Germany 2006.



French Algeria
Tony Gatlif
(Al-Jazair, 10/9/1948)


Born Michel Dahmani in an Andalusi Gypsy family. His troubled youth has been the school in which he learnt the backround for the films of which he is director, characterized by their crude realism. Since he presented his first feature film in 1975, his popularity has been continuously increasing.



Germany
Manoush
(Köln, 5/1971)


Her birth name is Marcia Nicole Rani, she is the daughter of a survivor from the Romany Holocaust. Actress, playwright and singer, she mainly performs the role of the ″bad girl″ in action and thriller movies. She acts also as stuntwoman in difficult scenes. Settled in the United States, she has also her own music band. Her performances are usually controversial for their crudeness and violence, althogh she personally admits not being of such character in real life.



Russia


Yul Brynner
(Vladivostok, 7/7/1915 - New York, 10/10/1985)


An undoubtedly controversial person, his origins have been a mystery for many. Actually he had only 1/4th of Romany blood, and 1/4th Jewish, by his mother Marousia Blagovidova, whose father was a Russian Jew and her mother a Russian Gypsy. It was anyway among Roma that he began his adventurous life, playing guitar in Romany circles and working as a trapezist in circus. He was elected Honorary President of the Roma, an office that he kept until his death.




The Buzylyov Family


A family of actors, musicians, singers, dancers and artists, the Buzylyov have featured in several films, some of them of worldwide success, like “Tabor Uhodit V Nebo” and “Sibiriada”. They have not only acted, but also composed songs for the films. The best known members of the eight siblings are: Viktor, the elder brother, a great composer; Dmitryi, the most famous, poet and actor; their younger sister Alena Buzylyova, who has become a recognized singer, and also Mikhail, actor.



Nikolay Slichenko
(Belgorod, 27/12/1934)


Theatre actor since his youth, he survived the World War II, in which he lost his father and other members of his family. He has won several important awards as People's Artist of the USSR (1981), State Prize of the USSR (1987), and the Order for the Service to Fatherland (2004). In 1977 he was appointed as Producer of the Romen Theatre of Moscow. There is also a star named after him.



United Kingdom
Sir Charles Chaplin
(Walworth, London, 16/4/1889 - Vevey, Switzerland, 25/12/1977)


Born Charles Spencer Chaplin, his parents were music hall artists. It is usually assumed that he was Jewish, an assertion that seems not to be true. He felt strongly identified with the Jews and manifested his defence of the Jewish people, but there is not any documented source to assert with certainty if he had also Jewish ancestry. On the other side, it is known that his mother, Hannah Smith, was Romanichel, and probably also his father was.
He was knighted in 1975.




Sir Michael Caine
(Rotherhithe, London, 14/3/1933)

Born Maurice Joseph Micklewhite, it was a tradition of his Romanichel family to call Maurice the firstborn son.
As an actor, he was awarded twice with the Oscar (1986 and 1999). He was knighted in the year 2000 for his contribution to performing arts.



Bob Hoskins
(Bury St. Edmund's, Suffolk , 26/10/1942)


Robert William Hoskins, as many Gypsies, spent his youth travelling and performing occasional activities like working in circus. Then he turned to the cinema and succeeded as actor. His family on his mother's side are German Sinti.



Other British actors having Romany ancestry – though dating back to some generations ago – are Sir Sean Connery, Sir Roger Moore, both having featured James Bond, and Leonard Whiting.



Stuntmen: There are many Roma who have played in famous films as stuntmen (men who replace the actors in scenes which require special skills and efforts); they are not famous, nor their names are listed in the credits either, yet, they deserve acknowledgement for their participation even though it is not possible to mention them by name. Roma have been engaged mainly in Bible history films and “spaghetti” Westerns.

Musicians & Singers
(except Flamenco)

Argentina

Sandro
also known as "Sandro de América" or "Gitano"
(Buenos Aires, 19/8/1945)

His civil name is Roberto Sánchez, his actual name should be Sándor Papadópulos. With forty years of artistic career, Sandro is the most popular Argentinian pop singer, and the first Latin-American singer who achieved an overflowing full stage at the Madison Square Garden of New York several times.
Sandro became a rock'n roll star in the sixties, inspired by Elvis Presley. His passionate style conquered the female public in Argentina and throughout the continent. By his artistic talent and renewal ability, his music has always been abreast of the times, and today he is mainly a romantic ballade singer.




Víctor Heredia
(Buenos Aires, 24/1/1947)


Even though this artist is well known for his commitment with the Native peoples of Latin-America rather than for his belonging to the large Heredia family (Andalusian Gitanos), his Romany origin is found in his immediate ancestry. Born in Monserrat, a district of Buenos Aires that is traditional settlement of Andalusian Gypsies, he achieved popularity as an excellent singer being still very young, performing in concerts with recognized international artists like Joan Manuel Serrat, Alfredo Zitarrosa, and others.

Owing to his commitment against dictatorship in Latin-America, he was banned by the regime, and a sister of him is among the “desaparecidos”. His songs are a poetic expression of the feelings of an entire generation and a voice of the Native peoples.




Belgium
Django Reinhardt
(Liberchies, Belgium, 23/1/1910 - Fontainebleau, France, 16/5/1953)


Jean-Baptiste Reinhardt was the first and still the greatest European jazz musician. His origins have never been a mystery, he belonged to one of the most numerous German Sinti families, of the Eftavagarya group. Even after two of his fingers were seriously damaged by an accident, Django outstandingly performed violin, guitar and banjo with the use of his healthy fingers. Django's particular style is also defined “Gypsy Jazz”.


The Reinhardt Family counts with many outstanding jazz musicians, among them the violinists Schukarnak Reinhardt and Martin Weiss, and the guitarists Babik Reinhardt, Hänsche and Maurice Weiss.




Bulgaria
Reyhan
(died on 25/7/2005, she was 19 years old)

Reyhan was a popular Romany singer. She recorded some albums, mainly in Turkish language, and was becoming a star when died as a consequence of a road accident.





Czech
Jožka Kubík
(Hrubá Vrbka, Horňácko, Moravia, 9/4/1907 - 8/2/1978)


Jožka Kubík belonged to the almost extinct group of Moravian Roma. His family were traditionally blacksmiths and musicians. He learnt to play violin in his childhood and at the age of fifteen he was leading a folk ensemble. He was the first musician that introduced cymbalon among violins and violas in a Czech folk orchestra, which required the development of a more elaborate playing style. He was one of the few Moravian Roma who survived the Romany Holocaust. In 1990, an asteroid discovered by Czech astronomers was named JožkaKubík in his honour.



Iva Bittová
(Bruntál, Moravia, 22/7/1958)


Born from a Gypsy father and a Jewish mother, Iva Bittová inherited her talent from her father, who was a renowned musician in Czechoslovakia. She is an outstanding violinist and a legend of modern Czech music. Her style is defined as avant-garde, an original mix of folk and contemporary music created by herself. She is also a composer of many of her works and employs unique, personal techniques of performing. She has achieved international success and gives concerts throughout Europe and the USA.
Her sister Ida Kelarová is a singer and musician of international esteem, founder of the ensemble “Romanó Rat” (Gypsy Blood).




France
Biréli Lagrène
(Saverene, Alsace, 4/9/1966)


Following Django's footsteps, the guitarist Biréli Lagrène revealed himself an infant prodigy being only 13 years old when he did his first recording. Born in a family of excellent self-taught musicians, Biréli still lives in caravan as an authentic Manouche. A master of versatility, he passed to modern fusion music in the 80's and returned back to traditonal Gypsy Jazz in the 90's, having created his own style. He is the founder of “Gypsy Jazz Project”.



Alabina
(“Los Niños de Sara”, the cousins Antonio, Ramón, Santiago and Coco)


The group Alabina, which achieved international success, is composed by Los Niños de Sara together with the Israeli singer Ester Zach (“Ishtar”). The four cousins are Gitanos and have grown up as musicians in the school of Flamenco. However, they have developed their own genre, which is a fusion of Middle Eastern folk, rumba, North African rhythms and other styles to which they add a slight Flamenco flavour.




Germany
Drafi Deutscher
(Berlin, 9/5/1946 - Frankfurt am Main, 9/6/2006)


Drafi Franz Richard Deutscher was the son of the Hungarian classical pianist Drafi Kálmán. He was a Schlager and pop singer, composer and producer. Very successful in Germany, he also composed some international hits for well-known artists. He used many different pseudonyms and held an excessive life-style.



Marianne Rosenberg
(Berlin, 10/3/1955)


She is a Schlager music singer, the daughter of Roma Auschwitz survivor Otto Rosenberg. She achieved success in the seventies, not only in Germany but also in neighbouring countries. She is still in activity and her songs usually reach a position in German charts.




Ayọ
(Köln, 14/9/1980)


“Afro-Gypsy” is how this half-Yoruba and half-Romanian Romany singer is defined. Her name is Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin, and Ayọ is her stage name, meaning Joy in her father's language. Her music is a mixed style like herself. Her first album, soul-raggae-folk genre, has achieved great success, going platinum or gold in Europe. Although closer to her African roots, she is also influenced by her Romany heritage and lifestyle.



Greece

Kostas Pavlidis
(Athens, 4/11/1974)


Kostas Pavlidis is one of the most qualified contemporary singers of Greece. He has been performing since his childhood, and signed his first professional record contract being only fifteen years old. In his artistic career he has featured the music of the most prestigious composers of Greece, as well as his own compositions. In 1993 he participated in the Romany music concert that was then released in the album “Songs of Greece's Gypsies”. Since then he has been recording with the most important Greek artists, and is contributing to the modernization of the Greek Romany musical culture.



Yiorgos Mangas
(Livádia, Viotia, 23/8/1952)


Yiorgos Mangas is a Greek Rom, considered the best contemporary soloist clarinet player in Greece. His particular style and technique, using complex scales over a modal harmonic background, slides and unexpected changes, and his personal way of interpretation and improvisation ability have conquered the public not only in his native land but throughout Europe and America. His rousing pieces and stage performance create a lively atmosphere in the audience.



Eirini Merkouri
(Ilion, Athens, 26/5/1981)


Eirini Merkouri is a pop singer of rising popularity in Greece. She belongs to a Romany family of musicians. Her first solo album was released in 2001.





Hungary
János Bihari
(Nagyabony, 21/10/1764 - Budapest, 26/4/1827)


János Bihari was the most renowned violinist of his time, and is the most representative interpreter of the “verbunkos” genre. There are 84 of his compositions that show his great talent, so that he was requested to perform in the most important ceremonies, including the whole Congress of Vienna. He was also the author of the Rákóczi March, that later inspired Ferenc Liszt and Berlioz.




István Dankó
known as Pista Dankó
(Szeged-Szatymaz, 14/6/1858 - Budapest, 29/3/1903)


Author and performer of Hungarian folk music, he was also called "Nótafa" (folk singer). In his native city he composed music for more than four-hundred poetry works. Then he moved to Szatmar and married Ilonka Joó, the daughter of the mayor of that city; the couple had to run away -in Romany style- after her father's disapproval because Dankó was a Gypsy. In his career he met the most important personalities of the time and even became their personal friend, including Prime Minister István Weckerle and many recognized Hungarian writers and poets like Géza Gárdonyi. Dankó's musical style was widely successful among the general audience. He composed “A magyarok bejövetele” -“March of the Hungarians”-, for the celebration of the thousandth anniversary of the Hungarian State, in 1885. Twenty years after his death, a statue of him was erected in Szeged by the Tisza river. Pista Dankó was the second Hungarian Rom after János Bihari to earn such honour.



György Cziffra
(Budapest, 5/11/1921 - Senlis, France, 17/1/1994)


A great pianist, he interpreted classic compositors like Liszt and Chopin in a particular way. Born in a humble family of Hungarian Roma, was internationally acknowledged as an outstanding pianist and master of improvisation. After the WWII, he was imprisoned for political reasons and suffered tortures which aimed at damaging his hands. Having been released, he emigrated to France and his ability was restored. His performances in Western Europe credited him as an exceptional, poetical pianist.



Roby Lakatos
(Budapest, 1965)


Roby Lakatos is a direct descendant of János Bihari and a member of a traditional family of Romany musicians, within which he received his musical formation, then completed at the Béla Bartók Conservatory of Budapest. He is an extraordinarily versatile violinist, able to combine classic, jazz and folk styles in a single performance. Composer and arranger, he has founded his own ensemble and has performed in international festivals with prestigious orchestras. Violinist Sir Yehudi Menuhin was among his admirers.





Ferenc Snétberger
(Salgótarján, 1957)


Ferenc Snétberger belongs to the Sinti group. His career as guitarist was developed since his childhood, cultivating different genres, from classic to jazz, folk and tango. His first composition for guitar and orchestra, “In Memory Of My People” was done by the initiative of Israeli musicians to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Shoah. Ferenc Snétberger dedicated this work to the memory of the Romany Shoah, inspired in the deeply passionate Romany music.



Kálmán Balogh
(Miskolc, 1959)


Born into a Romany family of recognized musical tradition, Kálmán Balogh is a virtuoso cymbalist. He graduated at the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Budapest, and in 1985 he has been awarded as Young Master of Folk Arts. The cymbalon is a particularly unique instrument typcal of Hungarian Gypsies, a hammer dulcimer played with mallets, which Kálmán Balogh plays with mastery and understanding. He has founded his own ensemble and has achieved international success.



Elek Bacsik
(Budapest, 22/5/1926 - Glen Ellyn, Illinois, 14/2/1993)


Guitarist and violinist, he began to play since his youth as it is common among Hungarian Roma. In 1949 he left Hungary, following his personal friend György Cziffra. After having played in ensembles in Europe with some notable figures of Jazz, in 1966 he emigrated to the United States, where he completed his career as Jazz musician. He was also violinist in Elvis Presley's orchestra, recorded with Dizzy Gillespie and appeared in many concerts with great representatives of American Jazz.



Mexico
Lila Zellet Elías
(México DF, 2/4/1971)


Lucila Tellez Elías Nemer belongs to a Syrian-Lebanese Romany family. She is a dancer and singer, costume and set designer, as well as art director in theatre, dance, opera and films since 1991, and professor of visual arts and art history since 1993. Her work is dedicated to the research, conservation and diffusion of musical and choreographic Romany and Middle Eastern expressions, as well as new proposals bonding Romany culture and Latin America. She has developed a system of dance education to professionalize the choreographic Romany forms in the school she founded, Madrasat Al Mosharabía, one of a kind in Latin America. Director of the Romany dance and music ensembles “Egiptanos” (2003) and “Cigáni” (2004), both created to spread and promote the Romany culture. Her specialty is Moorish singing and dancing, recreating the historical moment of the meeting between the Eastern and Western worlds.





Netherlands
The Rosenberg Trio
Stochelo (19/2/1968), Nonnie (9/3/1956) & Nous'che (23/2/1965)


The Rosenberg family are Sinti with a long tradition as musicians. Since their childhood, Stochelo and his cousins learnt to play guitar and other string instruments from their parents and uncles. They were used to perform in Gypsy camps and churches throughout Europe, but not for the common audience until 1989, when these talents were convinced to let their music be known, performed in theatres and recorded.



Jimmy Rosenberg
(Asten, 10/4/1980)


Born Joseph Rosenberg in a Sinti family, he was revealed to be a great guitarist at the age of 13. Being still a teenager, he played with geniuses like Biréli Lagrène, Stéphane Grappelli, Stochelo Rosenberg and others, and toured in concerts in Europe and the United States, including the Carnegie Hall of New York. Nevertheless, he still prefers living as a true Sinti, in a caravan.




Mariska Veres
(Den Haag, 1/10/1947 - 2/12/2006)


She was the daughter of the Hungarian Gypsy violinist Lajos Veres. She was a pop singer and her career began in the 60's, either as soloist or with different bands. She achieved popularity as the lead vocalist of The Shocking Blue; she joined the group with the condition that her relationship with the members would be only professional. An enigmatic beauty with a beautiful voice, she held a healthy life: in the era of youth revolution, she was known for having withdrawn from alcohol, smoking, and other activities that marked that period. After the group's end in 1974, she continued her career as soloist, or singing with several Jazz musicians. She was a very popular in the Netherlands until her sudden death.





Poland
Edyta Górniak
(Ziębice, 14/11/1972)


Edyta Górniak is the daughter of a Gypsy father and Polish mother. Her childhood was marked by discrimination because of her Romany origins, however, she achieved in becoming the first pop star in Poland and later in Europe and Asia. She was the first Polish singer that participated in Eurovision (1994), and her second place is the highest classification reached by Poland in that contest until now. She sings in Polish and English, and has received many awards and has also sung in duet with José Carreras.





Romania
Sergiu Celibidache
(Roman, Romania, 11/6/1912 - München, Germany, 14/8/1996)


Sergiu Celibidache was undoubtedly one of the greatest orchestra conductors of the 20th century. He belonged to the numerous Romany minority of Romania. He was the Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1945 to 1954 and of the Orchestre National de France from 1973 to 1975. Celibidache was also the guest conductor of the Orchester des Süddeutschen Rundfunks, Stuttgart, and co-operated with the Münchner Philharmoniker. By personal conviction, he refused to recording his performances for commercial purposes.




Maestro Ion Voicu
(Bucharest, Romania, 8/10/1923 -1997)

Considered the best violinist of Romania of all times, Ion Voicu was the founder of the Chamber Orchestra of Bucharest in 1969. He has performed with the most prestigious orchestras as the Berliner Philharmoniker and the London Symphony Orchestra, and with celebrities like Yehudi and Hepzibah Menuhin, David and Igor Oistrakh, Henryk Szeryng, Leonid Kogan, Cristoph Eschenbach, Monique Haas, etc.




Gheorghe Zamfir
(Găeşti, Dâmboviţa, 6/4/1941)



Gheorghe Zamfir is the most famous nai (pan-flute) virtuoso. Graduate as conductor in Bucharest, has introduced the pan flute in the most varied musical genres and has created the nai-organ style with innovative interpretations. He has performed in concerts worldwide, including Carnegie Hall of New York. For his achievements, he has received the Order for Cultural Merit of France, and the title of Chevalier of France, Belgium and Luxembourg. Zamfir has also published essays and poetry, and is also a painter, having presented his works in exhibitions. He has also a foundation for humanitarian and cultural purposes.




Johnny Răducanu
(Brăila, Romania, 1/12/1931)

Called “Mr. Jazz of Romania”, is a pioneer of Jazz music in his country and an outstanding performer, mainly as pianist. He belongs to a Romany family of long musical tradition. He has played and recorded with many of the greatest Jazz artists, has been awarded with the Price of Excellence by the Union of Romanian Composers and has received an honorary membership of the New Orleans Jazz Academy. He is also the founder of the Romanian Jazz school and the President of Romanian Jazz Federation.



Russia
“Steshka” Stepanida Soldatova
(1787 - 1822)


Steshka, as she was popularly known, was an extraordinary singer and dancer. She began her career in the Gypsy chorus being still very young. At sixteen years of age, she was impressed by Italian Bel Canto style, so that she decided to study this discipline ‒ a quite unusual choice for a Gypsy artist in those times ‒ and then she applied professional techniques to Russian folk song, creating her own style by harmonizing the qualities of the Italian Opera with the traditional Gypsy genre. She had her own ensemble, a typical Gypsy one. She became a legend for many generations of musicians and composers. She had also great human qualities, and supported with her money many poor families besides her own one. When Napoleon invaded Russia and was in Moscow, he called for her to listen to her singing, but she was performing for the Russian troops in another place.



Mikhail Erdenko
(1885 - 1940)


Mikhail Erdenko was the founder of a dynasty of Russian Roma musicians, singers, dancers and artists. An outstanding violinist, he was professor at the Moscow conservatory and a personal friend of Lev Tolstoy, for whom he also played. He was a master in arrangements of popular music, of which the most celebrated is his version of the Kol Nidrei, a Jewish prayer in Aramaic which is said in the Synagogue at the evening service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Erdenko's Kol Nidrei is still considered to be the most beautiful version of the prayer




The Erdenko Family


Almost all members of the Erdenko family are devoted to Gypsy folk music, song and dance, performing arts and circus. Several of them have become well known artists in Russia and worldwide: Lyubov Erdenko, she was an outstanding dancer and composer; Aleksandra Tushenko, singer and dancer; the couple Roza and Nikolay Erdenko, musicians and artists who are at present the senior representatives of the family.




Nikolay Ivanovich Erdenko
(Kursk, 29/11/1945)

Talented violinist, he is the “patriarch” of modern Gypsy Russian folk. Being still a student, he was called to play with a symphonic orchestra in Japan, and then declined a proposal to teach in the conservatory of Tokyo. Nikolay Erdenko is considered an expert by outstanding musicians who have had him as a counsellor and teacher. Musician and singer, his style is abreast of the times but keeping the deep Romany soul of traditional folk. He has participated in soundtracks of films about Gypsy stories, including the most celebrated film of this genre, “Tabor Uhodit V Nebo”. He has recorded albums with his wife Roza and their daughters, in Romany and Russian.



Loyko
(Sergei Erdenko, Oleg Ponomarev, Alesha Bezlepkin, Vadim Koulitskii, Georgy Osmolovsky, Leonsia Erdenko)


Leonsia Erdenko

The name of this Russian Gypsy folk ensemble was given in honour of Loyko Zabar, a legendary Gypsy fiddler of the 19th century. Founded by Sergei Erdenko, son of the dancer Lyubov Erdenko, and his cousin Oleg Ponomarev, grandson of the violinist Vasily Ponomarev, both families of a long artistic tradition. Originally a male group, then joined them the vocalist Leonsia Erdenko, daughter of Nikolay and Roza. All of them professional musicians, they have received classic music education in addition to the folk tradition inherited from their ancestry.
Besides the group, Leonsia has a brilliant career of her own, having studied piano, folk dances, Flamenco, and acting. She belonged to the Trio Erdenko and has also participated in different projects with other musicians and groups.

Loyko's Website



The Zhemchuzhny Family

A dynasty of Romany Russian artists and musicians, founded by

Nikolay Mikhailovich Zhemchuzhny
(Voronezh, 20/5/1923 - Moscow, 22/1/1993)

A great musician and singer of remarkable creativity, performed traditional Russian Gypsy songs and composed a great number of his own. His folk style is comparable with the cante jondo in Flamenco for its deep emotional charge. His music is also performed in several films, including “Tabor Uhodit V Nebo”, and in many plays of the Romen Theatre of Moscow.
He performed with his wife Olga Sergeyevna Aleksandrovich (Vitebsk, 15/3/1922), an outstanding Gypsy dancer.



Lyalya Zhemchuzhnaya
Their son Georgii Nikolayevich Zhemchuzhny (Saratov, 5/5/1945) is an actor and director, began his career in his father's ensemble and graduated at the Russian Academy of Theatre and Arts. In 1973 he became director at the Romen Theatre.
Married to Ekaterina Andreevna Buddyzhenko Zhemchuzhnaya (Shchekino, Tula, 23/3/1944), a talented actress and singer belonging to a family of musicians. She began her career in the Romen Theatre of Moscow and has played leading roles in several romances and dramas, acting and performing folk songs.
Their daughter, Olga “Lyalya” Georgievna Zhemchuzhnaya (Moscow, 31/5/1969) is also an outstanding actress and singer, graduated at the Russian Academy of Theatre and Arts. She has acted in several plays with her mother, and has achieved remarkable quality roles in dramas like “Olesya” and “Tzyganka Aza”.





Diana Aleksandrovna Savelyeva
(Lvov, Ukraine, 16/5/1979)


Diana Savelyeva is a soprano singer, daughter of the dancer Aleksandr Savelyev and grandniece of Nikolay Zhemchuzhny. She is a talented artist since her childhood; she won the first prize in song contests at the age of seven, and soon her solo performances were applauded by the public of different countries. She studied musical drama at the Romen Theatre of Moscow. She participates in many international concerts and Gypsy festivals, performing various musical genres, including blues, soul, Middle Eastern and other styles. She played the role of Esmeralda in the Russian version of Notre-Dame de Paris, being up to now the only authentic ethnic Gypsy to have featured such a role.





Alyosha Dmitrievich
(Aleksey Ivanovich Dmitrievich)
(Sankt-Petersburg, 23/3/1913 - Paris, 21/1/1986)


Musician, dancer and singer. His career began in his childhood into a family ensemble, together with his three brothers and two sisters; he was guitar player and dancer. In 1919 they emigrated to Vladivostok and subsequently to China and Japan, and performed in several countries of Asia and Europe. Ten years later, the family moved to France, where his artistic talent and acrobatic dance style were widely appreciated. In 1940 he settled in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and performed in theatres around South America, where he was known as “Gypsy Baron”. In the sixties he discovered to be also a gifted singer and recorded songs, including a duet with his personal friend Yul Brynner. He became very popular among the Russian public in Europe and the United States.



Pavel Serebryakov
(Tsaritsin, 1909 - Sankt-Petersburg, 1977)


Pavel Serebryakov was born in a Romany family. Being a gifted musician, at the age of 19 he moved to Sankt-Petersburg (then called Leningrad) to study piano at Russia's oldest conservatory, where he started his brilliant career: in 1938, he became the Director of the same Leningrad Conservatory, a position that he kept for almost thirty years, until his death. He was not only an outstanding pianist, but also a popular hero, having saved the lives of many colleagues and students who were considered enemies of the regime.



The Kolpakov Trio
(Aleksandr Kolpakov, Vadim Kolpakov and Tamara Cherepovskaya)


Aleksandr “Sasha” Kolpakov (Orenburg, 1943) began playing the Russian seven-string guitar in his childhood and has been the musical director of the Romen Theatre of Moscow. His nephew Vadim Kolpakov is a musician, composer, vocalist, dancer and dramatic actor. Graduated at the Romany Performing Arts School Gilori, he learnt to play seven-string-guitar from his uncle. He has performed for presidents and authorities of different nations and participated in many musical projects. His concerts worldwide include performances at the Carnegie Hall of New York and the Kremlin. The female member of the trio is Tamara Cherepovskaya, a Romany singer and dancer who has toured in Europe and America also as soloist.



Serbia
Janika Balaž
(Janika Balázs)
(Lukino Selo, Vojvodina, 23/12/1935 - Novi Sad, Vojvodina, 12/11/1988)


Born into a Hungarian Romany family of musicians, in his childhood he manifested his artistic vocation by playing violin, but later he specialized in tamburitza and became a virtuoso on this particular long-necked fretted string instrument, typical of that region and traditionally played by Roma. He held many performances in Yugoslavia and concerts in many important theatres worldwide, featured for documentary films and worked with musicians of international prestige. A monument to him was erected in Novi Sad in front of the Petrovaradin fortress, on the opposite bank of the Danube.





Boban and Marko Marković
(Vladičin Han, Serbia)


Boban Marković is recognized as the best contemporary trumpet player of the Balkans. His brass band, the Boban Marković Orkestar, has won many important awards and fisrt prizes in festivals and competitions throughout Europe and America. They perform world music as well as traditional Gypsy Balkan melodies. His only son, Marko, has joined the band at the age of fourteen, and two years later he became the lead soloist.



Slovakia
Koloman Polák
(Košice, 1/2/1974)


Romany composer and director of classic and contemporary music. A young talent, in the beginning of his career he worked within the Romany artistic environment in Slovakia, then he settled in Vienna and is one of the founders of an ensemble with Jewish and Roma musicians and singers, of which he is the composer.



Slovakia/Hungary
Panna Cinková / Czinka Panna
(Gemer, present-day Slovakia, formerly Hungary, 1711 - 1772)


Born into a family of Roma musicians, she was the most renowned female violinist. Her talent was evident since her childhood. She founded a Gypsy ensemble with her husband and brothers-in-law, and later with her sons. Her mastery, eccentricity and beauty made of her a living legend, being requested by the nobility, she performed also for the Archduchess of Austria. She was also a composer of several pieces of different musical genres.



Spain
Azúcar Moreno
(The sisters Encarnación and Antonia Salazar)


The Salazar sisters were born in Badajoz, Extremadura, in a Calé family having a long tradition of Flamenco singers and dancers, including their brothers. However, they have definitely changed for a self-made style that is improperly defined as “flamenco-pop”, actually an explosion of sensuality that they apply to any kind of musical genre. Their own image is essential part of their success.

The sisters became popular not only in the whole Spanish-speaking community, from the United States to Argentina, but also in Japan and worldwide.




Las Grecas
(The sisters Carmela and Edelina Muñoz Barrul)


The sisters Carmela (Valladolid, 19/7/1954) and Edelina (Valladolid,17/2/1957-30/1/1995) had an incredibly successful career in a very short period. They were avant-garde in fusion music and introduced electric instruments in Gypsy swing, mixed with rock, rumba, Greek and Middle Eastern folk, and other genres, a style that since then is called “Gypsy rock”. After the edition of their fourth album, their musical career stopped suddenly because of Edelina's health problems.




United Kingdom
John Roberts
(Rhiwlas Isaf, Llanrhaeadr, 1816 - 1894)


The most prestigious harpist of the 19th century, John Roberts belonged to the Wood family, a dynasty of Welsh Romany musicians founded by the violinist Abram Wood, who had more than twenty outstanding harpists among his descent. John Roberts was awarded many prizes and honoured as the “Telynor Cymru”. He played personally for Queen Victoria in several occasions, also with his nine sons and a daughter, all of them skilled musicians.



Sir Henry Joseph Wood
(London, 3/3/1869 - Hitchin, Hertfordshire, 19/8/1944)


Henry Joseph Wood belonged to a traditional Romanichel family; he was an orchestral conductor, founder of the Promenade Concerts. He was also a composer, whose most celebrated work is “Fantasia on British Sea Songs”. Sometimes used the pseudonym Paul Klenovsky. Knighted in 1911 for his services to music.



Martin Taylor
(Ayrshire, Scotland, 1956)


Martin Taylor is a self-taught guitarist of international prestige. He is a Romanichel. Among his achievements, he has been granted the British Empire Membership for his services to music in 2002, has got the British Jazz Award as best guitarist ten times between 1987 and 2001, the Honorary Doctorate University of Paisley, Scotland in 1999, Pioneer to the Life of the Nation in 2003 and other honours and medals.



David Essex
(West Ham, London, 23/7/1947)


Born David Albert Cook, pop singer and actor, is a Romanichel. David Essex has been president of the Romany Union of Great Britain and is still an active member of the Gypsy Council. In 1999, he was awarded by the Queen the Order of the British Empire for his commitment in arts and charity work.



Albert Lee
(Herefordshire, 21/12/1943)


Albert Lee is a Romanichel and a well known guitarist of country music, blues and rock'n'roll, who has performed with several of the most famous artists in those genders. He has won the Grammy Award in 2002, and other prizes granted by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors and the British Country Music Association. He is also a gifted pianist and vocalist.



Denny Laine
(Birmingham, 29/10/1944)


Born Brian Hines in a Romanichel family, is a guitarist, songwriter and singer. Member of The Moody Blues and then co-founder with McCartney of Wings. He performed as soloist since the age of twelve, following the jazz style inspired by Django Reinhardt.



United States

Elvis Presley
(East Tupelo, Mississippi, 8/1/1935 - Memphis, Tennessee, 16/8/1977)

It is not necessary to explain who Elvis Aaron Presley was. Perhaps what is less known of him is that his ancestors came from Germany in the early 18th century and their original surname was Pressler. They were part of the Sinti people commonly known as “Black Dutch”, also called “Chicanere” or “Melungeons”. It is also likely that from his mother's side, Smith by surname, the family would have been of Romanichel origins, as it is common that Black Dutch and Romanichel intermarry, but keep separate from other groups.




Rickie Lee Jones
(Illinois, 8/11/1954)


Singer and songwriter, she has performed various musical genres, mainly inspired in blues and jazz styles. She is of Welsh Romany origin. Known by her unconventional life style since her early youth, she has lived in different places thoughout the United States. She won the Grammy Award twice. An anthology of her career has been relased in the album “Duchess of Coolsville”.

Nobel Prizes

Denmark

Schack August Steenberg Krogh
(Grenå, Danmark, 5/11/1874 - København, 13/9/1949)

Known as Dr. August Krogh, this scientist was a Danish Rom, professor at the University of Copenhagen between 1916 and 1945. He achieved several important discoveries in zoophysiology, exposed in his books Respiratory Exchange in Animals and Man (1916), Osmotic Regulation (1939) and Comparative Physiology of Respiratory Mechanisms (1941). Awarded with the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1920 for his discovery of the regulation of the capillaries during muscular work, studies which were published in his book The Anatomy and Physiology of the Capillaries (1922).





Pioneers & Adventurers

British Empire
Augustine Bearce
(Great Britain, 1618 - Barnstable, Massachusetts, between 1686 and 1687)


Augustine Bearce was a Romanichel deported by the British authorities to the colonies in America in 1638 because he was a Gypsy. He was registered among the passengers of the “Confidence” being 20 years old. Probably arrived at Plymouth, Massachusetts, he moved to Cape Cod in 1639 and married the Wampanoag princess Little Dove Hyannos, the granddaughter of the Great Sachem Highyannough and of the princess of the Nanhigganeuck tribe. Augustine Bearce is remembered as a zealous believer in God, keeper of Shabbath and the Ten Commandments. He has illustrious descendants throughout the history of the United States. He is the best known Gypsy that married a Native woman, however, such marriages should have been rather frequent, as most of the deported Roma were male and it was much easier to find wives among Natives, being both peoples excluded from active participation in the White society. Such phenomenon was more evident in Appalachia, the land of the Melungeons.
* Augustine Bearce and Little Dove's descent includes two presidents of the United States, however, the Romany-Wampanoag heritage vanished after several generations of marriages within the Anglo-Saxon population, and these presidents cannot be regarded as Romanichel or Native Americans, of course. (This information is only a genealogical curiosity).




Germany

Walter Balthazzar Reinhardt
(Trier/Trèves, 1720 ? - Sardhana, India, 1778)

This adventurer, libelled by western historians (who cannot even assert whether he was born in Germany, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland or Austria) is also known by his nickname “Samru”, an Indic adaptation from the French “Sombre”, name given to him probably because of his dark skin. After a quarrel with his brother Jakob, he was enrolled in the French East India Company as a sailor and landed in India in 1754. He apparently passed to the British in Bengal and returned back to the French in Chandarnagar (There is another version, that he was first in the British army and then passed to the French). Whichever version is right, it is a fact that he knew very well both the French and the British war schools. Subsequently, he left the European colonizers for the Indian rulers, having his own army composed by Indian warriors and also European soldiers, mainly deserters from the British. Since history has been written by the winners -that were defeated by him-, he is slandered as the responsible for the slaughter of the British in Patna, an event that took place after he repeatedly called on the British to surrender. On the other side, if he indeed was a bloody warrior, he was not worse than the British and French officers, who certainly were neither missionaries nor Médecins Sans Frontières. His army was the only in India that fought the British with success, and was undefeated during all his career. As a reward for his services, the Indian Emperor gave Samru Reinhardt the principality of Sardhana as his own property and realm; he married an Indian lady, Begum Yohanna Samru, that succeeded him after his death as the leader of his army.






Presidents of the Republic

Brazil

Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira
(Diamantina, Minas Gerais, 12/9/1902 - Resende, Rio de Janeiro, 22/7/1976)

President of Brazil (31/1/1956-31/1/1961), for the Social Democratic Party (moderate left). His grandfather was a Czech Rom, Jan Kubíček, born in Třeboň, Bohemia. During his government there were not prisoners of conscience. JK (as he is usually known) transformed Brazil into an industrial power, founded the automotive industry and developed the construction of roads throughout the nation. His best known achievement was the foundation of Brasília, the new capital, on April 21st 1960. President Kubitschek publicly acknowledged his Romany origin, and he often invited Roma representatives to dinner at the Presidential Residence.



Washington Luís Pereira de Souza
(Macaé, Rio de Janeiro, 26/10/1869 - São Paulo, 4/8/1957)

President of Brazil (15/11/1926-24/10/1930), was the last democratic president of the Old Republic. He belonged to a family of Calon Gypsies. Released the prisoners of conscience and stopped the curfew that was in force when he assumed government. He was writer and historian, and after his return from exile he was elected member of the Brazilian Academy of Literature. He was also a well known philanderer.




France

Not a President of the Republic, but the First Lady (from 16/5/2007 to 15/10/2007)
Cécilia María Sara Isabel Ciganer Albéniz
(Boulogne-Billancourt, 12/12/1957)

Cécilia Ciganer cannot be considered Romany according to her lifestyle or cultural patterns, notwithstanding, her Gypsy bloodline comes directly from her Jewish Rom father, Aron Chouganov, then named André Ciganer, with reference to his ethnicity, at his arrival in France from Russia. Cécilia Ciganer was for five months the First Lady of France as long as she was the controversial wife of Nicolas Sarközy, the first President of the French Republic of Hungarian/Jewish origin.
Her brother Patrick Ciganer, now American citizen, is Program Executive Officer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).





Parliament Members


Hungary

Lívia Járóka
(Tata, 6/10/1974)


Lívia Járóka comes from a family of musicians, is a journalist and has two university degrees. She was elected Member of the European Parliament when Hungary joined the European Union in 2004, for the Fidesz-Magyar Polgári Szövetség, group of the European People's Party. She is the first CEU graduated at the European Parliament and the second of Romany ethnicity. She is as well member of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality, and of the SAARC.



Viktória Bernáthné Mohácsi
(Berettyóújfalu, 1/4/1975)

Viktória Mohácsi is the second Romany woman who became a Member of the European Parliament when Hungary joined the European Union in 2004, for the Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége, replacing her party colleague Gábor Demszky.




Spain

Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia y Montoya
(Puerto Real, Cádiz, 29/6/1942)

Journalist and writer, Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia was the first Gypsy member of the European Parliament (1994-1999), for the Socialist Party. In 1995 he was appointed Honorary Member for life of the Council of Europe, having been Member of the Parliament Assembly since 1983. In 1996 he founded the Unión Romaní, that is the main Gypsy association in Spain. He is author of several publications dealing with social issues as well as Romany language and grammar.





Preachers


United Kingdom

John Bunyan
(Elstow, Harrowden, Bedfordshire, 28/11/1628 - Snow Hill, London, 31/8/1688)


John Bunyan was the author of the most popular classic of Christian literature: “The Pilgrim's Progress”. He is widely considered by historians as a “Tinker”, a name given in Great Britain and Ireland not only to Gypsies but also to other Traveller groups. However, there is strong evidence that the Bunyans were Romanichals, whose traditional occupation is that of brazier. In his autobiographic work “Grace Abounding”, Bunyan wrote some statements about his descent as the most despised of all the families of the land, and considered that his particular lineage may be that of the lost Israelites ‒ such a thought in Britain in those times was exclusive of Roma. Bunyan clearly refers to his family as belonging to a non common kindred and a discriminated minority. Parish registers of the 16th century remark of the Bunyans (and similar spellings of this surname) as belonging to the “Egyptians” as well as other qualifications like “braziers”, “horse-dealers”, “fortune-tellers”, “vagrants”, etc., all of them pointing out to the Roma people. Wedding annals confirm the Bunyans having married full-blood Romanichels for generations, and in those times Roma did not marry non-Roma people. Also the area of Elstow, where he was born, has been for centuries a Gypsy settlement. A further proof that he was a Romanichal was given by the singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan, his direct descendant, who attested that her grandparents were still Romany Gypsies. John Bunyan was immersed in the river in 1653 and was a member of the Baptist Church. He became soon a successful preacher and was imprisoned for preaching without license. Many of the phrases that he wrote in his masterpiece, The Pilgrim's Progress, have become common expressions in English language.



Rodney “Gypsy” Smith
(Mill Plain, Epping Forest, Essex, 31/3/1860 - Atlantic Ocean, on the “Queen Mary”, 4/8/1947)

Rodney “Gipsy” Smith was undoubtedly one of the greatest international evangelists of all times, and the best loved one. He was born in a tent and did never attend a school class; nevertheless, his ministry reached the crowds in every English-speaking nation and also wrote several books and hymns that he used to sing during his sermons. Since 1899 until his death, he travelled many times to preach in America, Australia, South Africa and Europe, and wherever he was the crowds came to listen to him. King George VI honored him with the Order of the British Empire.





Norway

Ludvig Valentin Karlsen
(Furua, Ullensaker, 10/12/1935 - Oslo, 21/3/2004)

Ludvig Karlsen is considered Norway's most loved preacher. He was born in a large and humble Romany family and spent his childhood in Gypsy settlements. With only few years of primary education, he never attended neither Bible school nor seminary before he started preaching the Gospel. Through his ministry, Norwegian Gypsies have achieved a degree of dignity and respect which was them denied before. Ludvig Karlsen's message was directed not only to his people, but to the general audience, and his social work to the poor and the outcast. In 1983 he founded the Norwegian Gospel Centers, an institution for rehabilitation of alcoholics and drug-addicts, which is today one of the most important social help activites in the country. He has also edited a dictionary of the Romany language.






War Heroes

Roma are peaceful people. War is not part of Romany feelings, and is avoided whenever it is possible. However, when there is no choice, Roma are ready to serve the State to which they belong. Here we present some Romany heroes, who have been loyal to their country. We should consider the persons and their service to their fellow citizens, their efforts to help them taking advantage of their position, beyond the fact that the official policy of that country may be censurable according to some democratic patterns.



Russia

Aleksandr Baurov
(Sankt-Petersburg, 23/3/1906 - 18/2/1972)

Aleksandr Baurov was born into a family of Romany artists, musicians and singers, and he himself was to keep their tradition, having taken guitar lessons and performing in choirs in his youth. Yet, the October Revolution changed the course of his life, and he had to find a new profession. He graduated at the College of Electromechanic Communication and worked as laboratory assistant. However, he still played in an ensemble. When the Soviet Union entered the WWII, he was sent to the front in 1941, and he took his guitar to play for his fellow soldiers when there was rest moments. Owing to his skills, he was appointed as officer, as Commander of Communication Support, then as Commander of the 1st Aeronautic Division. He was awarded with an Order of the Red Star and an Order of the Battle Red Banner. He also received an Order of Alexandr Nevsky (a very rare and honourable one) for the forced crossing of Oder river, and a Polish Cross of Valor. He participated in the defeat of Nazism, in the victorious conquest of Leipzig. From 1949 to 1955, having the degree of Lieutenant-Colonel of Engineering Corps, he took part in creating and launching of the first Soviet rockets.



Other Gypsy Heroes of Russia

Roma have given thousands other heroes to Russia, many of them lost their lives fighting against Nazi armies, others have seen the victory of the Allies at the end of WWII. They all deserve an honorable memory, but we do not know all their names, so we can just mention some of them as representatives of all.
Piotr Amidzhanovich, Abdisha Olyevich, Montii Olyevich and Sejdamet Olyevich, of the Kazybeyevikh Crimean Roma family, were awarded with war condecorations.
Mikhail Dmitriev, fought all the war and entered with the triumphant Soviet army in Berlin.
Grigori Petrovich Kuznetzov, participated in the liberation of Poland and Czechoslovakia, medal for courage.
Vasily Alekseyevich Mushtakov, fought for the liberation of Budapest, awarded with medal.
Vasily Vasilkov, pilot, died in the battle of Stalingrad.
Zaikin Vasily Zakharovich, participated in the Finnish War, then died on battle field against Germans.
There were also Romany women who played an important role during the war, as Anna Belozerova, Elena Kolpakova and Aleksandra Shlykova, medical assistants, died in war.
In this category we can also list the scientist sisters Natalya Pankova and Lyubov Pankova, mentioned above, who left aside their careers and voluntarily worked hard in a plant, making shells for rocket projectors, as their patriotic conscience led them to help their country to fight the Nazi invaders.
An heroe not of WWII, but of modern times, was Jan Aleksandrovich Sergunin (Reshetnikov), Lieutenant-General and Lawyer, restored the Civil Law in the Chechen Republic, trying by all means the diplomatic way making the law to prevail over weapons; promoted the creation of rehabilitation centres in Kazakhstan; provided for free legal advisory to citizens against illegal procedures. He was also a writer in Romany language.





Journalists


Czech

Jarmila Balážová
(Brno, Moravia, 5/1/1972)

Jarmila Balážová is a Romany journalist working for Czech radio and television. In 1992 she founded the Romany language broadcasting, then she engaged herself in producing TV shows for children. She also writes for magazines and is the editor of a Romany monthly publication. She is a member of the Czech Government's Council for National Minorities.



Ondrej Gina
(Rokycany, Bohemia, 22/2/1971)

Ondrej Gina is the son of an aknowledged Rom activist and the first Gypsy moderator of the news journal on Czech television. Formerly correspondent for the International Romany Agency “Romnews” and reporter for the radio journal, he was requested by the television in 1999 and became moderator.




United Kingdom

Jake Bowers
(Haslemere, Surrey, 28/5/1972)

Jake Bowers is a self-made journalist born in a Romanichel family with his 17 siblings. Committed to the social rights of his people, has founded the Gypsy Media Company. He has worked for BBC television and radio, for the Guardian and the Independent and many other publications. At present he is in the process of starting internet based Romany radio in the United Kingdom.



George Bramwell Evens
(Hull, 1884 - Wilmslow, Cheshire, 1943)

George Bramwell Evens was a very popular BBC journalist, better known as “Romany”. His broadcastings about nature and life in the countryside were the first ones dealing with such matters. He hosted also programmes for children, in which he reproduced the sounds of nature in studio with the effect as if they were outdoors, and described the Gypsy life and his travels in caravan. He has also written books on natural history.





Fashion Designer


Spain

Juana Martín Manzano
(Córdoba, 1974)


Juana Martín Manzano is the first fashion designer of Romany ethnicity (Gitana). She is well known in Spain since she won the Andalusian Fashion Contest in Estepona in 2000. Then she has been awarded in several fashion contests of national and international importance, and has exposed her collection in the Pasarela Cibeles, the leading fashion showcase in Madrid.

Juana Martín's website

Zlatan Ibrahimović on tällä hetkellä jo muutaman vuoden maailman 1 JALKAPALLOSSA, MUSTALAINEN

Mistähän mahtaisi löytyä suomalaiset kovat nimet:D

Laiskottelussa romanit on parempia..

HOMOJA KAIKKI

Olen otettu kun nimeni mainitaan oheisella listalla.
Katson kuitenkin aiheelliseksi huomauttaa.
En tee nk "hengellisiä romanilauluja tai hengellistä romanimusiikkia"
Mutta, kirjoitan Jumalan rakkaudesta jonka ydin on Kristus keskeisyydessä. Siitä kirjoitan ja sävellän, en ns "tekemällä tee" mitään.
Eli, en "kategorio" tuotantoani...Ne ovat Jumalan kansanlauluja
ja kertovat Jeesuksesta pelastajana ja syntien anteeksiantajana. Sillä ei ole mitään tekemistä romanikultuurin kanssa. Silti koen olevan siunattu, enkä häpeä tunnustaa lukeutuvani tähän kansanheimoon. Mutta Usko Kristukseen lepää Jumalan sanan arvovallassa ja sen maailmassa, ei romanikulttuurissa, ei edes sen uskonnollisuudessa.

"ALM" Allan L. Mäntyniemi

Minun poikani oli hyvin monta vuotta ruotsin maajoukkuen päävalmenta Taekwondo:ssa. Hän määrisi, kuka sai mustan vyön ja kuka ei. Hän oli ykkös mies, omassa lajissaan. On han nämä toisetkin pojat, muuta ei hänen vertaisiaan. Kaikki alan miehet tietävät nimen, mutta en mainitse sitä