Ionel Rotaru

Ionel Rotaru (1918-1982) was a Romani activist.

Early life

Ionel Rotaru was born in Bessarabia, now located in modern-day Moldova, in 1918.^[1] He had a middle-class upbringing living with his parents, three brothers, and two sisters. His family was literate; his father was an engineer, while two of his brothers held jobs as an architect and a journalist.

During World War Two, he was a conscript in the Romanian Army before fleeing west in 1946 as the only surviving member of his family, the rest of them executed by the Nazis.^[2] He escaped to Italy, then Egypt, before settling in France in 1947. It is unclear whether he entered the country illegally. Before reaching Paris, he struggled to maintain a job, bouncing between various occupations and cities. He worked as a sailor in Marseille, a miner in Lens, and once in Paris, he was a porter in the Les Halles market for an unspecified period. At some point, he got married to his wife and moved into a one-bedroom apartment on 75 Rue Victor Hugo.^[1] During his time in France, he experienced moderate amounts of success in his artistic career, which continued even as he advocated for the Romani people.^[1]

Romani activism

Supreme Leader of the Gypsies

In May 1959, several French newspapers reported sensational news that the Roma had crowned their supreme leader with the exotic title of Vaida Voevod III in Enghien-les-Bains, a small town north of Paris. Ionel Rotaru, now self-proclaimed as Vaida Voevod III, staged this coronation, with engaging photographs distributed to the press. These images depicted Rotaru and the former Voevod participating in a symbolic transfer of title, mingling their blood from their wrists.^[1] The Declaration of the Rights of Man played a significant role in the event, as well as symbolism associated with the colors blue (for the sky) and green (for hope) on his sash.^[3] The theatrical nature of the ceremony intrigued Romani intellectuals in Paris who considered themselves ‘the real Bohemians’.^[4]

Rotaru already had a support base among the Roma immigrants in Paris from Romania and other countries before this event. He had initially assisted the immigrants with issues of immigration, and was becoming increasingly involved in helping individuals with reparation claims against West Germany. The Romani intellectuals of Paris joined forces with him in support of this cause.^[3] Rotaru received significant assistance from two half-brothers, Jacques and Louis Dauvergne, who had mixed French and Rudari Roma backgrounds and adopted the political names Vanko and Léulea Rouda. Vanko, a paralegal, was granted substantial time by his law firm to work on Roma cases pro bono. Together, they established two organizations: the Organisation Nationale Gitane and the Communauté Mondiale Gitane (CMG).^[4]

Communauté Mondiale Gitane

Throughout his activism, Ionel Rotaru created various associations with the intent of supporting the Romani people. The Communauté Mondiale Gitane (CMG), also known as the World Community of Gypsies in English, is the most notable and successful^[1] –and the first international Romani organization.^[4] Despite not formally reigning as a king, Rotaru established a transnational network through CMG to advocate for Romani rights. This network extended beyond the Iron Curtain to Poland, where the first office was established. Rotaru also reached out to other countries in the West to form more offices, including the UK, Ireland, Canada, Germany, and Austria. In these countries, he sought to address the concerns of various marginalized groups stigmatized by their nomadic lifestyles.^[1]

References