List of Romani people

This is a list of notable Romani people and people of Romani descent.

Politicians and activists

• Juscelino Kubitschek - Brazilian president. His mother was of Czech and Roma descent.
• Damian Draghici – (born 1970) Currently Member of the European Parliament, former MP Romanian Parliament - Senator, Adviser of the Prime Minister on Roma issues
• Rajko Đurić – (born 1947) Serbian writer and academic, leader of Roma Union of Serbia
• Alfonso Mejia-Arias – musician, writer and politician, Mexico
• Ian Hancock – Romani scholar and activist, born in UK, living in USA, Professor at the University of Texas
• Lívia Járóka – Hungarian Member of the European Parliament
• Mădălin Voicu – (born 1952) Romanian politician. His father, Ion Voicu, is Romani
• Ştefan Răzvan – (? – 1595) Prince of Moldavia, Ruled Moldavia for four months. (Romani father)
• Nicolae Păun – Romanian politician
• Ágnes Osztolykán - Hungarian politician
• Juan de Dios Ramírez Heredia – Ex-member of the European Parliament, founder of the Romani Union, Spain
• Viktória Mohácsi – (born 1975) Hungarian Member of the European Parliament
• Ronald Lee – (born 1934, in Montreal), Canadian Romani novelist, activist and U.N. delegate
• Romani Rose – German Sinto activist
• Dávid Daróczi – (1972–2010) Government Spokesperson of the Republic of Hungary
• Rudolf Sarközi – chairman of the Austrian Romani association Kulturverein.
• Sani Rifati – Serbian activist
• Ali Krasniqi – Albanian writer and activist
• Bajram Haliti – Kosovar activist
• Flórián Farkas - Hungarian politician
• Soraya Post - (born 1956) Swedish politician for the Feminist Initiative party.

Authors and writers

• Veijo Baltzar – Finnish writer[1]
• Rajko Djuric – (born 1947) Serbian writer & activist
• Caren Gussoff – American writer. Claims "Romani and mixed heritages".
• Delia Grigore – (born 1972) Romanian writer, academic and activist
• Ronald Lee – Canadian writer, Romani activist and lecturer at the University of Toronto.[2]
• Matéo Maximoff – French writer
• Louise Doughty – British writer
• John Bunyan – Christian author[3]
• Lafcadio Hearn – Irish writer[4]
• Charlie Smith – poet.
• Baja Saitovic Lukin – poet
• Mehmed Merejan
• Ceija Stojka – (born 1933) Austrian author and painter
• Katarina Taikon – (1932-1995) Swedish children's writer
• Bronisława Wajs – (1908–1987) AKA "Papusza", Polish poet and singer

Musicians

• Azis - (1978-) Bulgarian chalga (pop-folk) singer.
• Alfonso Mejia-Arias - (1961-) Mexican musician and activist.[5]
• Cher Lloyd-(1993) British pop singer/rapper of Romani descent.
• Sinan Sakić - Serbian Folk singer of Romani descent.
• Django Reinhardt - (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953) Belgian-born pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique (sometimes called 'hot' jazz guitar) that has since become a living musical tradition within French Manouche culture.
• Mariska Veres – (1947–2006) Lead singer of the Dutch rock group Shocking Blue. Daughter of Hungarian Romani violinist Lajos Veres and Franco-Russian mother.
• Marianne Rosenberg - (Born: March 10, 1955 (age 65 years), Berlin, Germany, German singer with notable fame throughout Europe, her Father Otto Rosenberg a Romani/Sinti survivor from Auschwitz.
• Carmen Amaya – (1913–1963) Spanish flamenco dancer
• Vicente Escudero – Spanish flamenco singer, dancer and choreographer; occasionally painter, writer and actor.
• Sotis Volanis- Greek Singer.
• Pyotr Leshchenko – Russian (born 1858–1903))
• Grigoraş Dinicu – Romanian composer and violinst
• Anjeza Shahini – Albanian
• Pista Dankó – (born 1858–1903) Hungarian-born bandleader and composer
• Sandro de América – (1945–2010) Argentinian singer and actor
• Adam Ant – (born 1954) British punk/new wave musician; maternal grandmother is Romanichal.
• Elek Bacsik – (1926–1993) Hungarian-born American jazz violinist and guitarist
• Robi Botos – Canadian musician and composer from Hungary
• Joe Zawinul – Austrian musician. His grandmother was a Hungarian Romani, and his grandfather was from southern Moravia.
• Eugene Hütz – Ukrainian singer, guitarist, writer and actor
• Šaban Bajramović – (1936–2008) Serbian singer
• János Bihari – (1764–1824) Hungarian violinist
• Věra Bílá – (born 1954) Czech folk and pop singer
• Iva Bittová – (born 1958) Czech singer, violinist and composer
• Diego "El Cigala" – (born 1968, Madrid) Spanish flamenco singer
• Joaquín Cortés – Spanish flamenco dancer
• "Rayito" Antonio Rayo – Spanish Guitarist, singer and composer. Father Gitano (Iberian Kalo) and mother Japanese
• Panna Cinka – (1711–1772) Hungarian Violinist, born in Kingdom of Hungary in modern Slovakia
• Georges Cziffra – (1921–1994) Hungarian virtuoso pianist
• Drafi Deutscher – (1946–2006) German Sinto songwriter, singer and composer
• Damian Draghici – Romanian, composer and Jazz panflute player, Politician
• Fanfare Ciocărlia – (formed 1996) Romanian brass band
• "Falete" Rafael Ojeda Rojas – Spanish singer
• Lolita Flores – (1958) Spanish singer and actress.
• Antonio Flores – (1961–1995) was a Spanish singer-songwriter and actor.
• Rosario Flores – (born 1963) Spanish singer and actress, Latin Grammy award winner
• Camarón de la Isla – (1950–1992) Spanish flamenco singer
• Kal – Romani world music Band from Serbia
• Nicolas Reyes (born 1958) – Franco-Spanish singer, guitar player; lead singer for the Gipsy Kings, a band made up mostly of members of his extended family
• Tonino Baliardo – Franco-Spanish guitar player; also a member of the GIpsy Kings
• Los Niños de Sara – French (Spanish origin, Iberian Kale) rumba and flamenco singers and guitar players
• Ketama – Spanish new-flamenco band
• Sasha Kolpakov – (born 1943) Russian guitarist
• Biréli Lagrène – (born 1966) French jazz guitarist, violinist and bassist
• Denny Laine – British musician (The Moody Blues, Wings)
• Félix Lajkó – (born 1974) Hungarian-Serbian violinist and composer (part Romani)
• Albert Lee - (born 1943) London born and raised country rock guitar legend. His father is Romanichal.[6]
• Joe Longthorne – (born 1955) English singer and impressionist
• Irini Merkouri – (born 1981) Greek pop singer
• Aggelopoulos Manolis – (1939–1989) Greek singer and actor
• Sofi Marinova – Bulgarian singer
• Boban Marković – Serbian brass bandleader and trumpet player
• Jerry Mason – American Singer, Guitarist
• Carlos Montoya – (1903–1993) Spanish flamenco guitarist
• Ramón Montoya – (1889–1949) Spanish flamenco guitarist
• Ivo Papazov – (born 1952) Bulgarian jazz clarinetist
• Manitas de Plata – (born 1921) Spanish guitarist
• Valentina Ponomaryova – (born 1939) Russian singer
• Džej Ramadanovski – born 1964 in Belgrade (former Yugoslavia), modern Serbian folk singer
• Johnny Răducanu – (born 1931) Romanian jazz musician
• Esma Redzepova – (1943-2016) Macedonian singer and songwriter
• Jimmy Rosenberg – (born 1980) Dutch swing guitarist
• Marianne Rosenberg – (born 1955) German singer and songwriter. Daughter of German Gypsy who survived Auschwitz.
• Paulus Schafer - (born 1978) Dutch jazz guitarist
• Tchavolo Schmitt – (born 1954) French jazz guitarist
• Taraful Haiducilor – (Taraf de Haïdouks) Romanian band, formed 1989
• Nicolae Neacşu ("Culai") – Lăutar, was the leader of Taraf de Haïdouks
• Wally Tax – Dutch rock singer, of The Outsiders. Son of a Dutch father and a Russian Romani mother.
• Ion Voicu – (1923–1997) Romanian violinist and orchestral conductor, founder of Bucharest Chamber Orchestra
• Sotis Volanis – Greek pop folk singer
• Harri Stojka – Austrian jazz guitarist
• Radoslav Banga – of Czech group Gypsy.cz
• Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin – Ayọ (stage name), German singer
• Didem – Turkish Bellydancer
• Romica Puceanu – (1928–1996) Romanian singer (Urban Lăutarească Music)
• Gabi Luncă – (born 1938) Romanian singer (Urban Lăutarească Music)
• Pere Pubill Calaf "Peret" – (born 1935) Catalan Spanish singer, guitar player and composer
• Edyta Górniak - (born 1972) Polish singer
• Robert Plant - (born 1948) English singer and songwriter (former vocalist of Led Zeppelin). Romanichal mother

Cinema and theater

• Yul Brynner – Actor. Romani
• Tony Gatlif - French film director
• Bob Hoskins – Actor. Grandmother was Romani from Germany.
• Óscar Jaenada- Spanish actor
• Marcia Nicole Barandyai known as Manoush – French-German actress. Her mother is of Manouche origin.
• Nikolai Slichenko – Russian actor
• Snooki - Nicole Elizabeth Polizzi - American reality television personality
• Ştefan Bănică, Sr. – Romanian actor
• Ştefan Bănică, Jr. – Romanian actor and musician

Artists

• Antonio Solario – Italian artist
• Helios Gómez – Spanish artist, writer and poet
• Otto Mueller – painter and printmaker, Sinti mother
• Micaela Flores Amaya, La Chunga, Flamenco dancer and painter
• Joe Machine, (1973) British Stuckist painter

Athletes

• Ilie Năstase – Romanian tennis player of selfdeclared Romani descent

Boxers

• Johnny Frankham -British Boxer, Knocked down Cassius Clay in an exhibition fight.
• Dawid Kostecki – Polish light heavyweight boxer of Romani descent
• Ivailo Marinov – also known as Ismail Mustafov, Ismail Huseinov or Ivailo Khristov) is a Rom Bulgarian boxer, who won the bronze medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in light flyweight, and the gold medal in the same category at the 1988 Summer Olympics
• Serafim Todorov – was a Bulgarian/Georgian boxer at the 1996 Summer Olympics who won a silver medal. He is the last boxer to ever defeat the highly regarded Floyd Mayweather Jr.
• Jem Mace – Bareknuckle Boxing Champion, Father of Modern Boxing; called "The Gypsy," but denies Romani ancestry in his autobiography
• Johann Wilhelm Trollmann – German light-heavyweight boxer killed during the Porajmos
• Silvio Branco – Italian light heavyweight Boxing Champion
• Michele di Rocco – Italian Light Welterweight Boxing Champion
• Zoltan Lunka – Germany
• Faustino Reyes – Spanish Boxing he won the silver medal in the featherweight division (– 57 kg), 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona
• Billy Joe Saunders – British Boxing, represented Great Britain in the 2008 Olympics
• Norbert Kalucza – Hungarian Boxing
• Jakob Bamberger - German amateur boxer, twice the German Vice-flyweight champion, Olympic selection in 1936, in the years 1970/80 activist in Sinti civil rights movement[7]

Football players-managers

• Jesús Navas – Spanish (Manchester City)
• José Antonio Reyes – Spanish (Sevilla)[8][9]
• Pierre-Yves André – French (Retired)
• Aljoša Asanović - Croatian (Retired)
• Richard Carpenter – English (Retired)
• Freddy Eastwood – Welsh (Free Agent)
• Arturo Garcia, Arzu – Spanish (Free Agent)
• André-Pierre Gignac – French (Olympique Marseille)
• Dani Güiza – Spanish (Getafe)
• José Mari – Spanish (Xerez CD)
• Petre Marin – Romanian (Retired)
• Bănel Nicoliță – Romanian (Nantes)
• Christos Patsatzoglou - Greek (Iraklis Psachna)
• Ricardo Quaresma – Portuguese (Porto)

Various

• Rodney "Gipsy" Smith – (1860–1947), British evangelist
• Sofia Kovalevskaya – Major Russian female mathematician of 1/4 Romani descent[10]
• Jimmy Marks – litigant in a lawsuit against the city of Spokane, Washington
• Settela Steinbach – Holocaust victim
• Ceferino Giménez Malla – Spanish beatified Catholic catechist

References

1. "Members of IRWA". International Romani Writers Association (IRWA). Retrieved 17 September 2009.
2. "My Current Bio". Romano Kopachi, the Romani Tree. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
3. Mayall, David. Gypsy identities, 1500-2000: from Egipcyans and moon-men to the ethnic Romany. 2003. Routledge. Page 156. Google Books. Retrieved 27 December 2011.
4. McWilliams, Vera (2007). Lafcadio Hearn. Published by READ BOOKS. pp. 476 pages. ISBN 978-1-4067-2796-8. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
5. "Famous Gypsies". www.imninalu.net.
6. Watts, Derek; Eric Clapton (2008). Country boy: a biography of Albert Lee. McFarland. pp. 4–10, 14, 17. ISBN 978-0-7864-3658-3.
7. Michail Krausnick, Wo sind sie hingekommen? Der unterschlagene Völkermord an den Sinti und Roma, Gerlingen 1995, S. 80-81. und Jörg Boström (Hrsg.), Das Buch der Sinti, Westberlin 1981.
8. "Caborn wants Aragones action". 2 January 2005 – via news.bbc.co.uk.
9. Balague, Guillem (1 February 2004). "Focus: Jose Antonio Reyes". the Guardian.
10. "Women mathematicians by Dubreil-Jacotin".