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The Roma (Gypsies) in Hungary through the Kadar Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

David Crowe
David Crowe*
Affiliation:
Elon College (North Carolina)
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Extract

There have been Roma or Gypsies in Hungary for over 650 years. Historical records indicate that they entered Hungary between 1416 and 1417 from Transylvania during the reign of King Sigismund (1387–1437), though linguistic evidence indicates that they had begun to settle there earlier. In 1423, Sigismund granted the Gypsy leader, Ladislas, and his followers, certain rights of transit, and they began to flock to Hungary. Most settled in the outskirts of villages or towns, and became prominent in some parts of the country as blacksmiths.

From the outset, the Gypsies were subjected to varying degrees of discrimination. In the 18th century, Empress Maria Theresa (1740–1780), after Pope Clement XIII granted her the right to become Apostolic ruler of Hungary, adopted policies designed to force the Roma to assimilate into Hungarian society. She outlawed use of the word Cigány and decreed that Gypsies in the future be called “new citizen,” “new peasant,” or “new Hungarian.” In 1780, the government placed 8,388 Roma children in schools where they became wards of the state, and another 9,463 in foster homes. Within a few years, all of them had run away from these institutions or the families. The Gypsies responded with some outbreaks of violence in certain areas, though in most instances they simply left Hungary for other parts of Europe.

Type
Articles
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 19 , Issue 3: Special Issue - The Gypsies in Eastern Europe , Fall 1991 , pp. 297 - 312
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 by the Association for the Study of the Nationalities of the USSR and Eastern Europe, Inc. 

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References

Notes

1. Vekerdi, Józcef, “Earliest Arrival Evidence on Gypsies in Hungary,” Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society, Volume I, Number 2 (1976), pp. 170–171; Miklos Tomka, “Die Zigeuner in der ungarischen Gesellschaft,” East European Quarterly, Volume IV, No. 1 (March 1970), p. 3; László Siklós, “The Gypsies,” The New Hungarian Quarterlv, Volume XI, Number 40 (1970), p. 150; one of Hungary's most important historical figures, Sigismund, became Holy Roman Emperor in 1410 and King of Bohemia in 1420. Denis Sinor, History of Hungary (Westport: Greenwood Press Publishers, 1976), pp. 60-103, Passim; Rena C. Gropper mentions in her Gypsies in the City: Culture Patterns and Survival (Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1975), pp. 7-8, that as a result of a rebellion among Gypsy slaves in Hungary in 1383 that “Sigismund of Hungary gave a group called the Sincani the right to choose their own leaders. “Sigismund, however, did not become King of Hungary until 1387, and was not in a position to grant such rights prior to this time.Google Scholar

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25. Hajdu, p. 30.Google Scholar

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28. Réger, p. 60.Google Scholar

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39. Cozannet, Francoise, “Gypsies and the Problem of Acculturation,” Diogenes, Number 95 (Fall 1976), p. 69; Hajdu, P. 34.Google Scholar

40. Ibid., p. 34.Google Scholar