Edward Dębicki (born 4 March 1935) is a Polish

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnicities * Romani people, an ethnic group of Northern Indian origin, living dispersed in Europe, the Americas and Asia ** Romani genocide, under Nazi rule * Romani language, any of several Indo-Aryan languages of the Roma ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. His work is connected with the

community and its cultural, itinerant and music

traditions A tradition is a belief or behavior (folk custom) passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common examples include holidays or ...

. Dębicki was born in Kałusz, in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, the son of the Romani musicians Władysław Krzyżanowski and Franciszka Raczkowska. Much of his youth was spent travelling in his parents' caravan in the border regions between

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

and the Ukraine.''The Gypsies in Poland: history and customs'' Jerzy Ficowski Interpress Publishers 1989 In 1953 he attended music schools in

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (; german: Landsberg an der Warthe) often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów, is a city in western Poland, on the Warta river. It is the second largest city in the Lubusz Voivodeship with 120,087 inhabitants (Decemb ...

and

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (2021). Zielona Góra has a favourable geographical position, being close to the Polish-German border and on several international road ...

. In 1955 he founded, and became the director of, the music group ''Kcham (Sun)'' which later became

Terno Terno (English: " heYoung"), is a Polish Romani music collective founded in 1953. Originally known as ''Kcham'', Terno was founded by Romani musician Edward Dębicki Edward Dębicki (born 4 March 1935) is a Polish Romani poet, musician and comp ...

. He has taken part in accordion competitions in

Kielce Kielce (, yi, קעלץ, Keltz) is a city in southern Poland, and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the bank ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

. Dębicki is the author of a book of poetry, ''Under the naked sky ('Teł nango bolipen' (Romani) or 'Pod gołym niebem' (Polish), 1993)'',Adam Bartosz, ''Nie bój się Cygana/Na dara RRomesoar'', Pogranicze, Sejny, 1994 and the novel ''Bird of the dead ('Ptak umarłych', 2004)'' which describes the experiences of a Romani family in

Wołyń Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. The ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He has written approximately 200 songs. Since the 1960s Dębicki has been the director of the musical group ''Terno (Młody)'' in

. At present Dębicki lives in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland.

References

1935 births Living people Polish musicians Polish Romani people Romani musicians Romani poets Ukrainian Romani people Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis {{Ukraine-writer-stub