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Elena Marushiakova

Elena Marushiakova () is a historian and ethnographer working in the field of Romani Studies, of Slovak and Russian origin, who has lived and studied in Slovakia and Bulgaria. In 2016, she became a research professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. Elena Marushiakova later became the president of the Gypsy Lore Society.

Life

Marushiakova started her professional career in the Ethnographic Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, followed by work in the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies and the Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

From 2001 to 2004, Elena Marushiakova conducted research on the Roma in the former Soviet Union in the framework of the Complex Research Programme "Difference and integration" of the Universities of Leipzig and Halle. From 2013 to 2014, she was a Professor Fellow in the International Research Centre "Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History" at the Humboldt University of Berlin, in 2015 a Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of St Andrews, and in 2016 a Professor Fellow in the Imre Kertész Kolleg at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.

Since September 2016, Elena Marushiakova has been the Principal Investigator of an ERC Advanced Grant and works as a research professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews.

From 2023, she has been working at the Institute of Ethnology and Social Anthropology at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Marushiakova was the president of the Gypsy Lore Society (2010–2020) and a Funding and Scientific Committee member of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies. From 2020 to 2022, she was co-editor-in-chief of Romani Studies (journal). Marushakova is also the founder and editor-in-chief of the Brill & Schoning Series "Roma History and Culture".

Marushiakova is a holder of the 2009 Fulbright New Century Scholars Award from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

Marushiakova received, on 7 February 2020, the Doctor Honoris Causa Award of Södertörn University in Stockholm for her great contribution to Romani Studies. The appointment was challenged by academics working in Romani Studies at Södertörn, who considered her work antiziganist and criticised her contributions to the German school of "tsiganologie". This was disclosed by the Romani-Swedish magazine DIKKO in 2021. Numerous Roma and many scholars from different countries refuted the accusations and expressed their strong support for Marushiakova. In 2022, the Initiative Group for Roma Culture, which includes Roma intellectuals from Bulgaria, honoured Marushiakova and Veselin Popov with the award "Romanipe" for their lifelong activity in the field of Roma studies.

in 2022, in recognition of Marushiakova's scholarly contribution, the Best Historical Materials Committee of the Reference and User Services Association (American Library Association) selected her co-edited volume Roma Voices in History (2021) as one of the best historical materials published in 2020–2021.

In 2023, Marushiakova received the title of Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews.

In 2024, Marushiakova received the Personality of Science and Technology award from the Ministry of Education, Research, Development, and Youth of the Slovak Republic. In 2025, she and Vesselin Popov received the Slovak Academy of Sciences Prize for Scientific Research Excellence for their remarkable publication Stalin vs. Gypsies – Roma and Political Repressions in the USSR.

Main activities

Elena Marushiakova and her co-author Veselin Popov conducted numerous ethnographic field studies and have published on Gypsies/Roma in Bulgaria, the Balkans, Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia. Their major works include the first book on the Roma in Bulgaria (1997), a book on Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire (2000), and a book on Gypsies in Central Asia and the Caucasus (2016).

Within the framewprk of the RomaInterbellum project (ERC Advanced Grant 2016) led by Marshiakova, the following volumes were published: "Roma Voices in History: A Source Book. Roma Civic Emancipation in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe from the 19th Century until World War II" (2021), "Romani Literature and Press in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe from the 19th Century until World War II" (2021), and "Roma Portraits in History: Roma Civic Emancipation Elite in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe from the 19th Century until World War II" (2022).

Marushiakova and Veselin Popov also published in the fields of Roma folklore and oral history – the Studia Romani Series. They initiated the first museum exhibition about Roma in Bulgaria in 1995-1996 and the first international museum exhibition "Roma/Gypsies in Central and Eastern Europe" in 1998–1999 in Budapest.

Marushiakova and Veselin Popov have taught lecture courses and given public lectures at universities and research institutes, and at summer schools in Bulgaria, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova, Turkey, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA.

Bibliography

Books

  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2024. Stalin vs Gypsies: Roma and Political Repressions in the USSR. Paderborn: Brill &. Ferdinand Schöningh
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov, eds. 2022. Roma Portraits in History. Roma Civic Emancipation Elite in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe from the 19th Century until World War II. Leiden: Brill & Paderborn: Schöningh
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov, eds. 2021. Roma Voices in History: A Source Book. Roma Civic Emancipation in Central, South-Eastern and Eastern Europe from 19th Century until the Second World War. Leiden: Brill & Paderborn: Schöningh.
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2016. Gypsies of Central Asia and Caucasus. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2007. Студии Романи. Vol. VII. Избрано. София: Парадигма.
  • Marushiakova, Elena, Udo Mischek, Vesselin Popov and Bernhard Streck. 2005. "Dienstleistungsnomadismus am Schwarzen Meer. Zigeunergruppen zwischen Symbiose und Dissidenz". In Orientwissenschaftliche Hefte (16).
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2001. Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press. [1st ed.: Циганите в Османската империя. София: Литавра.] [Translations: Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2003. Romi u Turskom Carstvu. Subotica: ČikoÅ¡ Holding; Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2006. Osmanlı Imperatorluğu'nda Çingeneler. Istanbul: Homer;یلینا ماروشیاکوف٢٠٠٩ ا و فاسلین بو. تاریخ الغج. الغجر فی الدولة العثما نیة. وکالةسفنکس (Egypt, 2009)]
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 1997. Gypsies (Roma) in Bulgaria. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang. [1st ed.: 1993. Циганите в България. София: Клуб 1990.]

Collections of folklore and oral history

  • Marushiakova, Elena, Vesselin Popov and Birgit Igla, eds. 1998. Studii Romani. Vol. V-VI. The Snake's Ring. The Language and Folklore of Erli from Sofia. // Студии Романи. Том V-VI. Змийският пръстен. Език и фолклор на Софийските Ерлии. Sofia: Litavra. [bilingual edititon]
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov, eds. 1997. Studii Romani. Vol. III-IV. The Song of the Bridge. // Студии Романи. Том III-IV. Песента за моста. Sofia: Litavra. [bilingual edititon]
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov, eds. 1995. Studii Romani. Vol. II. // Студии Романи. Том II. Sofia: Club '90. [bilingual edititon]
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov, eds. 1994. Studii Romani. Vol. I. // Студии Романи. Том I. Sofia: Club '90. [bilingual edititon]

University textbooks

  • Марушиакова, Елена и Веселин Попов. 2012. Циганите в Източна Европа. Курс Лекции. София: Парадигма.
  • Кючуков, Христо, Елена Марушиакова и Веселин Попов. 2004. Христоматия по ромска култура. София: Иктус Принт.

Illustrated books and catalogues

  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2012. Roma Culture in Past and Present. Catalogue. Sofia: Paradigma. [Translations: Марушиакова, Елена и Веселин Попов. 2012. Ромската етнокултура – минало и настояще. Каталог. София: Парадигма; Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2012. I Romani etnokultura – paluptnipe thaj akana. Katalogo. Sofia: Paradigma; Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2012. La cultura étnica de los Gitanos (Roma) – pasado y presente. Catálogo. Sofia: Paradigma.]
  • Marushiakova, Elena, Udo Mischek, Vesselin Popov and Bernhard Streck. 2008. Zigeuner am Schwarzen Meer. Leipzig: Eudora Verlag.
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2000. Gypsies Roma in Times Past and Present. Photo-Book. // Цигани/Рома от старо и ново време. Фото-книга. Sofia: Litavra. [bilingual edititon]
  • Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 1995. The Gypsies of Bulgaria. Problems of the multicultural museum exhibition. // Циганите на България. Проблеми на мултикултуралната музейна експозиция. Sofia: Club '90. [bilingual edititon]

Assessment studies

  • Guy, Will, Andre Liebich and Elena Marushiakova. 2010. Improving the tools for the social inclusion and non-discrimination of Roma in the EU. Report. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
  • Marushiakova, Elena et al. 2001. Identity Formation among Minorities in the Balkans: The Cases of Roms, Egyptians and Ashkali in Kosovo. Sofia: Minority Studies Society "Studii Romani".

Edited volumes

References

External links