Ronald Lee

Ronald Lee ( b. 1934 ) is a Canadian Romani writer, linguist and activist.

Childhood and youth

Lee's father was a Kalderash from Europe. He emigrated to Canada, where he married and took the name of his wife, Lee. Ronald was born in Montreal. As a child he worked in the summer with his uncle at county fairs and amusement parks, in the fall, winter and spring, he attended night school. When he was 18, he started with a Kalderash family from Europe to travel. He learned the coppersmith work. Later he attended courses in journalism and creative writing.

Adulthood

In 1965 he began to work as an activist for the Canadian Roma. He tried to achieve this by Kris Romani ( Elders, internal court Kalderaš Roma) a better understanding between Roma and non- Roma, to combat prejudice and false images in the media and to help the Roma to represent themselves. In the 1970s he participated in the assistance for the Roma refugees from Eastern Europe and from 1989 for refugees who had been persecuted in their home as Roma and ansuchten for asylum.

On 5 July 1978, he took along with Yul Brynner, Ian Hancock and John Tene the International Roma Union at the United Nations with the desire to be recognized as an NGO. The recognition took place a year later.

In 1997 he was co-founder of the Roma Community and Advocacy Centre Centre ( based in Toronto ) and the Western Canadian Romani Alliance in Vancouver.

Ronald Lee teaches at the University of Toronto.

Writings

• Goddam Gypsy, a popular novel translated into Spanish, German, Italian, Serbian, Czech, Russian, and other languages ​​. Published by Tundra Books of Montreal, and McClelland and Stewart, Toronto, Canada, 1971
• Damn gypsies, Beltz & Gelberg, 1997, ISBN 3-407-78760- X
• Learn Romani: Das- duma Rromanes, University Of Hertfordshire Press, 2005