Rajko Đurić (1947-2020) *73

was a Serbian Romani writer and academic. He was also politically active as the leader of one of Romani parties in Serbia - Roma Union of Serbia. Đurić was born on 3 October 1947 in Malo Orašje, Smederevo, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia. He studied philosophy at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy (1967–1972). In 1986 he obtained a Doctorate of Sociology writing the dissertation Culture of the Roma in S.F.R. Yugoslavia. In 1991 he moved to Berlin avoiding involvement in the Yugoslavian wars.

He wrote more than 500 articles and, until leaving Yugoslavia, was the chief redactor for the cultural section of the newspaper Politika in Belgrade. He was the President of the International Romani Union and was the General Secretary of the Romani Centre of International PEN. His literary works have been translated into more than five languages. In 2011, he co-founded a Romani academy of arts and sciences in Belgrade and was its president until his death.