16.11.2015

Donald Kenrick, pioneer of Roma struggle, dies

He could translate from more than 60 languages and spoke thirty of them fluently.

 

Donald Kenrick


Everything happens for a reason. Everything in life has a beginning, a cause, something that makes it possible. This is today’s topic for discussion. Around 50 years ago, after a long period of being kept on the sidelines, young Roma rose out of the darkness ready to fight tooth and nail against the poverty and marginalisation that we had endured for as long as we could remember. That was our primary motivation. We carried out our work under the protection of charitable organisations that shielded us from the watchful eye of Franco’s authorities, who considered us to be a new generation of revolutionaries.

But we quickly realised that fighting against injustice was not enough to fulfil our hopes of being heard or respected as the Roma that we were. We soon understood that the recognition of our people as a community that wished to preserve its values and traditions was vital to our struggle for daily bread, housing and education.

And so, day-by-day, we uncovered previously unknown facts and aspects of our own past, all thanks to the selfless work and the invaluable contribution of people who had a brilliant mind for discovering and appreciating unique aspects of our culture, even without being Roma themselves. You would need a piece of paper as long as your arm to list all of these people. Some of them we have already lost forever, but others still remain with us.

Everything said thus far aims to set the scene for DONALD KENRICK, a British citizen who passed away two days ago at the age of 86. Kenrick was, in his own right, one of our most special and respected friends and collaborators.

Donald Kenrick was born on 6 June 1929 in the London Borough of Hackney, situated in the northeast of the British capital. His family, of Jewish origin, moved to England before the start of the First World War, where his grandfather acquired British citizenship. Kenrick became involved in left-wing politics from a young age, firstly as a communist and then as a socialist, although his primary focus always remained on education and on defending the cultural values of the most vulnerable communities.

This is how I came to meet him. It was 1969, or perhaps 1970, and I was working for the Barcelona Cáritas Diocesana, a local charity and social relief organisation run by the Spanish Catholic Church. I worked alongside Mosen Narcis Prat and Father Garcia-Die, two of the most reliable and loyal supporters of the Romani cause. With the support of these two great advocates, the Romani association movement known as the “Secretariados Pro-Gitanos”, meaning “Pro-Romani Secretariats” was created in Spain. We were visited one day by Donald Kenrick, accompanied by his young daughter who was no older than 12 or 13 at the time. They both lived up to our preconceptions of English people. Golden-haired, kind, well mannered, and dressed with a casual elegance.

Along with Grattan Puxon and siblings Vanko and Leulea Rouda, Donald Kenrick was one of the leading advocates for the legendary World Romani Congress, held in London on 8 April 1971. For me, the London Congress represented a pivotal moment in my immersion in the Romani language. Before this, however, it was Donald Kenrick who rocked the foundations of my knowledge by telling me that the Calo that my family and I spoke was reminiscent of a much more widespread language, Romani, spoken by millions of people across the world. Donald Kenrick told me about the Congress that would take place in London, which he strongly encouraged me to attend. I can never thank him enough for this invitation. Even those who are least aware of our circumstances know that this groundbreaking meeting represented a poignant moment in the evolution of our community.

Thomas Acton, another important figure in the field of university research into our language, was Donald Kenrick’s closest friend and even the best man at his wedding. Acton explained that Kenrick worked together with Ronald Lee on the first model for teaching Romani in English. Donald Kenrick was a genius, so much so that could even speak Catalan. As part of his doctorate, Kenrick carried out a detailed study, based on the theories of his contemporary Noam Chomsky, on the Drindari dialect spoken in the southern Balkan countries of Macedonia and Bulgaria.

But Donald Kenrick’s commitment did not stop there. For more than 50 years, Kenrick showed great dedication to working with the United Kingdom’s Gypsy Council. Thanks to his research, there are now several vital books that explore our recent past. Donald Kenrick and Gratta Puxton worked intensively for the War Crime Commission created at the 1971 Congress. The result of this was the publication of a book entitled “The Destiny of Europe’s Gypsies”, published in 1972. This academic study, which was translated into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Romani, Spanish, Portuguese and Bulgarian, details the suffering of Roma who were prisoners in Nazi death camps. It was also followed by several other publications of significant educational value.

We have lost a great man. Someone who dedicated his life to serving and to helping Roma so that we may hold the keys to our own freedom. Donald Kenrick never wanted to stand in the limelight, even when he should have done so by his own merits. Donald Kenrick always wished for Roma to be able to take responsibility for our own destiny. 

 

Te avel lohki leski phuv! May you rest in peace.

 

Juan de Dios Ramírez-Heredia

Lawyer and journalist

President of Unión Romaní

 

 

Translated from Spanish into English by Katherine Selby within the initative PerMondo. Sponsored by Mondo Agit offering translations from Spanish into English.

 

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