Rajko Djurić (born 1947 in Malo Orašje near Smederevo/Serbia) is a writer, philosopher, researcher and one of the most prominent Romani activists worldwide. He is also one of the most praised, writing in the Romani language and publishing his poetry in periodicals and several own collections of poems. His works have been translated and published in many European languages. The of Djurić also include editing collections of works by other Romani writers, translating and publishing literary criticism and occasional readings and lectures.

In 1986 he obtained a PhD in sociology with a dissertation on Romani culture in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. As a Yugoslav Romani activist, he took part in the federation-wide ‘Rom’ network organization. In addition, he researched and published articles and books related to Romani culture and folklore.

In 1991 Djurić emigrated to Berlin, Germany in response to the deteriorating political situation in Yugoslavia. He maintained a strong Yugoslav Romani identity amid the growing nationalist sentiments in the region of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. In 1996 he established the Romani PEN centre in Germany, which was active for about a decade.

Djurić is the first person researching Romani literature to write a history of Romani and Sinti literature (first published in German in 2002 as Die Literatur der Roma und Sinti), an international study that examines the subject both chronologically and geographically. His other research topics include Romani history, the Romani Holocaust and Roma in the European philosophical discourse.

All the literary and research activities of Rajko Djurić are related to political activism in the field of national (that is, Yugoslav/Serbian) and international Romani politics (see also his interview). He was secretary-general of the International Romani Union from 1981 to 1990 and president from 1990 to 2000. After 2000 he returned to Belgrade, Serbia, where he currently lives.

Selected bibliography

Ðurić, Rajko. 1969. Rom rodel than talav kham = Rom traži mesto pod suncem. Beograd: Savez kulturno prosvetnih društava.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1979. Bi kheresko bi limoresko = Bez doma bez groba. Beograd: Nolit.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1980. Prastara reč daleki svet = Purano svato o dur them. Beograd: Narodna knjiga / Slovo ljubve.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1982. A thaj U = A i U. Beograd: Narodna knjiga.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1984. Jaga-vatre. Leskovac: Nepredak.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1985. Romske zagonetke. Beograd: Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti.

Ðurić, Rajko. 1985. Hefestovi učenici. Beograd: BIGZ.

Ѓуриќ, Рајко. 1986. Без дом без гроб, препев. Милован Стефановски. Скопје: Мисла. [Djurić, Rajko. Bez dom bez grob, prepev. Milovan Stefanovski. Skopje: Misla.]

Djurić, Rajko. 1996. Les rêves de Jésus-Christ, traduit du serbo-croate par Mireille Robin: . Balma: N & B.

Djurić, Rajko. 2002. Die Literatur der Roma und Sinti. Berlin: Ed. Parabolis.

Djurić, Rajko, Jörg Becken, A. Bertolt Bengsch. 2002. [Ohne Heim - ohne Grab: die Geschichte der Roma und Sinti. Berlin: Aufbau Taschenbuch.

Ðurić, Rajko. 2007. Duša i pepeo. Vršac: Književna opština Vršac.

Ðurić, Rajko. 2015. Доба недоба = Kal akalesko. Смедерево: Међународни фестивал поезије Смедеревска песничка јесен. [Doba nedoba. Smederevo: Medjunarodni festival pozije Smederevska pesnička jesen.]