Karlis Rudevich:
"Mind reaches there but in a dream, abed
So many horses winded, many Gypsies blamed..."
So many horses winded, many Gypsies blamed..."
... wrote the unique Latvian Gypsy Kārlis Rudevičs who devoted all his life to the sacred goal of raising his people's self-esteem, proving to humanity what this people, scattered in the wind, is really capable of. Revealing and proving it by his own personality and talent. Kārlis Rudevičs was born Jan 19,1939 at Vangaži as the tenth child in the family. In 1942, to escape from the Gypsy holocaust, his parents moved the family to Riga. When he was 7, Kārlis lost his mother, at the age of 19 - his father. At 13 he had to start providing for himself, and worked hard. It steeled his willpower, made him persistent and enterprising. Formally he only completed secondary education, yet became a self-taught erudite in world literature, art, history, philosophy and languages, including Sanskrit. During his years at the Riga No. 1 secondary school he wrote poems in Latvian and got them published in the children's paper Pionieris (the Pioneer); his prize, at 12, was a voucher to the prestigious pioneer camp Artek in the Crimea. In his youth, together with Leksa Manush he rallied for elementary classes for Gypsy children to be introduced in Riga. Of course they failed, for such were the times... At 21 Kārlis Rudevičs got married. Today they both lie buried under bronze monuments - husband and wife looking at each other, poised and calm yet passionate like true Gypsies. The wife has a book of poems in her and - his poems, of course - and Kārlis is painting a portrait - hers, of course. What a beautiful woman she was! The handsome strong Gypsy genes are manifest in their children Normunds, Raimonds and Sando as well as in their grandchildren Ričards, Ornela and Roksana. And their daughters-in-law Lilija, Vineta and Raya have definitely been introduced to the secrets of Gypsy women's beauty and wisdom. I recall the March 21 1991 event of Gypsy culture arranged with the help of the Writers' Union. 50 years after the association "Friend of the Gypsies" had been liquidated,
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participants and TV audiences alike had a unique opportunity of enjoying the performance of two outstanding Gypsy ensembles, Ame Rome and Shatrica as well as the exhibition of Kārlis Rudevičs' paintings, and readings of his poetry. This event boosted Gypsy pride and trust in the future. It also gave rise to a new social organization of Latvia's Gypsies in the same year: Latvia's Gypsy Congress founded the Gypsy National Culture Association with elected president and Board. Then another dream came true with the founding of Gypsy evening school for illiterate adults and the first form for Gypsy children in Ventspils in 1991. In 1992-1993, supported by the Ventspils Education Board, Kārlis Rudevičs and Leksa Manush worked on a joint project of the first Gypsy ABC with illustrations, poems and translations by Kārlis Rudevičs. The ABC was published in 1996. The same year the magazine Latvia-Baltic state magazine wrote on the Gypsy cultural integration process in Latvia, naming it a catalyst of the country's development; Kārlis Rudevičs was entered into Latvia's Who is Who. The 1995 exhibition of Kārlis Rudevičs' paintings met considerable interest on TV and in the press. In 1996 he took an active part in organizing the minority culture festival Wreath of Latvia. Gypsies had made their mark amid other national culture associations of the country! In 1997 another exhibition was held in the Ventspils regional museum. In 1996-1997 Kārlis Rudevičs completed and edited two dictionaries - A Gypsy-Latvian-English etymological dictionary started by Leksa Manush and, together with a co-author, a Latvian-Gypsy dictionary started by Jānis Neilands - both of them first editions in Latvia and in the Baltic States. June 30 1997 saw the launching of the TV documentary Gypsy Etudes - Kārlis Rudevičs' vision of Gypsy history and modern ways. The project was supported by the Cinema Centre, produced by Imants Brils, camera by Viktors Grībermanis.
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In November 1998 the first bilingual Latvian-Gypsy Collection of poems "Heart of a Gypsy" was published alongside with the first Gypsy Calendar with a reproduction of "Nail Stolen at Golgotha" by Kārlis Rudevičs. In 1999 the Latvian Bible Society published "The Gospel after Luka" in the Gypsy language edited by Kārlis Rudevičs. In 2000 the Elpa publishing house printed his book of poems "In the Sun and in the Shade" and a children's book "The Gypsy Baron" written in the two were followed by "Bimbars" - a book inspired by Gypsy folk songs. The launching of these projects was widely represented in the media and drew unexpectedly large crowds. Kārlis beamed. He was satisfied. Kārlis Rudevičs was a member of the World Gypsy Writers' Union Romany PEN and a correspondent for World Gypsy Information Centre ROM-NEWS. There were some more moments in his creative biography worth mentioning, like the translation of ... into the Gypsy language, or the collection of Gypsy folklore - fairytales, legends, anecdotes, folk songs, proverbs and riddles as well as other material of importance for Latvia's history of culture. All of these are carefully preserved by the family of Kārlis' son Normunds, vice president of the World Gypsy union. To honour the lifetime work of Kārlis Rudevičs, a true son of his people and patriot of his country, he was created officer of the Order of Three Stars on June 30 1999. Give an ear to his thoughts! Read his poetry with your heart - like it was written! Look at his paintings with an unprejudiced eye and you will be rewarded!
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