Katarina Taikon-Langhammer (29 July 1932 – 30 December 1995) was a
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
Romany activist, leader in the civil rights movement, writer and actor, from the
Kalderash
The Kalderash are a subgroup of the Romani people. They were traditionally coppersmiths and metal workers and speak a number of Romani dialects grouped together under the term Kalderash Romani, a sub-group of Vlax Romani.
The Kalderash of the ...
caste. She was the sister of
Rosa Taikon
Rosa Sofia Ingeborg Taikon (30 July 1926 – 1 June 2017), formerly Janusch and Widegren, was a Swedish Romani silversmith and activist. From the Kalderash subgroup, Taikon first received public recognition for her work as a silversmith. Following ...
.
Biography
During Taikon's childhood Romani still lived in camps in Sweden, and had to move often, which made it hard for the children to get any school education. Taikon did not learn how to read and write until she was in her teens.
In 1946, Taikon was married off to a man. In 1948, a 16-year-old Taikon participated in Arne Sucksdorff's documentary short film ''Uppbrott'', where she danced around a camp fire. The filming of the documentary made it possible for Taikon to divorce her husband. For the next decade, Taikon acted in several Swedish motion pictures.
Taikon dedicated her life to improving conditions for Romani people in Sweden and throughout the world. Through her tireless work, debating, writing and talking to Swedish authorities, the Romani were granted the same right to housing and education as all other Swedes. In 1953, the 1914 ban on Romani immigration ended. This led to other Romani seeking refuge in Sweden, and the population, at first less than a thousand people, grew.
Taikon tried to convince Swedish authorities that these people were in fact political refugees, since they had been oppressed in their countries. After fruitless efforts to help a group of 47 French Romani gain
asylum in Sweden, she decided to change her strategy. The only way to end the prejudices against her people was to address the young, she realized, so she started to write her popular series of children's books about her own childhood, ''Katitzi'' (in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
a
TV-series
A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
based on the books was produced). Her sister Rosa later wrote:
the terrible injustices of which the Gypsies have for centuries been the victims, with the result that my generation and those which preceded it were deprived of all civil rights, might have continued in our country if, around 1960, Katarina Taikon had not decided to combat prejudice and racism in all its forms, She wrote books and countless newspaper articles, approached prime ministers, the Government, Parliament and all the political parties.
Katarina Taikon died of brain damage after falling into a 13 year long coma, following a cardiac arrest. She has been called the
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
of Sweden.
[''Taikon'', 2015 documentary by Gellert Tamas and Lawen Mohtadi.]
Filmography
*
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
- ''Taikon''
*
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
- ''Sceningång''
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
- ''Åsa-Nisse på semester''
*
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
- ''
Marianne''
*
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
- ''Tull-Bom''
*
1950
Events January
* January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed.
* January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...
- ''
The Motor Cavaliers
''The Motor Cavaliers'' (Swedish: ''Motorkavaljerer'') is a 1950 Swedish comedy sports film directed by Elof Ahrle and starring Åke Söderblom, Viveca Serlachius and Sten Gester.Segrave & Martin p.273 It was shot at the Centrumateljéerna Studio ...
''
*
1949
Events
January
* January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022.
* January 2 – Luis ...
- ''
Singoalla''
*
1948
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect.
** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British ...
- ''Uppbrott''
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
Taikon sisters on Czech Romani RadioRosa Taikon about Gypsies and about her sisterKatitzi by Katarina Taikon on Library Thing Site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taikon, Katarina
1932 births
1995 deaths
Swedish Romani people
Romani writers
Romani actresses
Kalderash people
20th-century Swedish actresses
People from Örebro
Romani rights activists
20th-century Swedish women writers