Matéo Maximoff (; 17 January 1917 – 24 November 1999) was a French writer and

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

pastor of

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 ...

ethnicity. His eleven books have been translated into fourteen languages. Born in Spain, he had parents who had migrated from Russia and France. His family sought shelter in France with relatives during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

. After the outbreak of

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 ...

, they were arrested as foreign nationals and interned for years, along with many other foreign refugees. He settled in France after the war and made his literary career there.

Early life and education

Maximoff was born in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. His father was a Kalderash Rom from

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

; and his mother was a

Manouche Romani people in France, generally known in spoken French as ''gitans'', ''tsiganes'' or ''manouches'', are an ethnic group that originated in Northern India. The exact number of Romani people in France is unknown; estimates vary from 500,000 ...

from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. She was a cousin of the guitarist

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

and his younger siblings. Maximoff's father, a

tinker Tinker or tinkerer is an archaic term for an itinerant tinsmith who mends household utensils. Description ''Tinker'' for metal-worker is attested from the thirteenth century as ''tyckner'' or ''tinkler''. Some travelling groups and Romani p ...

, a traditional trade among Kalderash, taught him how to read, write and count. He also had much to tell him about

, Kalderash

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

, and different

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and countries. He died when Maximoff was 14. Maximoff took over as a tinker to support himself, his mother and younger brothers and sisters. He taught his siblings to read and write.

Refuge in France

In 1936, because of the

, Maximoff with his mother and siblings left Spain to seek shelter among relatives in France. In 1940, after the defeat of France in

and

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, the Maximoffs were arrested under suspicion of intelligence with the enemy, as were many other foreign refugees. Maximoff's family were interned in a camp for 'spies' for 42 days before being transferred to a 'Gypsy camp' in

Tarbes Tarbes (; Gascon: ''Tarba'') is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. It is the capital of Bigorre and of the Hautes-Pyrénées. It has been a commune since 1790. It was known as ''Turba ...

. In May 1941, they were interned at a camp for 'nomads' nearby

Lannemezan Lannemezan (; Gascon Occitan ''Lanamesa'', "heath of the middle") is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department and the Occitanie region in south-western France. The inhabitants are called Lannemezanais. Lannemezan is the largest city ...

. At that time, the Roma were not allowed to travel and had their id's ( travel license ) withheld by local law enforcement agencies ...

Literary career

After World War II, Maximoff settled in France. He wrote eleven novels, which have been translated into fourteen languages. He also produced a book that included

ethnographic Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject ...

photographs of the Roma in France. In 1961, Maximoff became an

pastor. He translated the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

into

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 ...

Romani language Romani (; also Romany, Romanes , Roma; rom, rromani ćhib, links=no) is an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities. According to '' Ethnologue'', seven varieties of Romani are divergent enough to be considered languages of their ...

from French, although only the New Testament, Ruth and Psalms were published. Many of his other books were published into English in the late twentieth century, before his death in 1999 in France.

Bibliography

* ''Angels of Destiny'' (1999) * ''People of Roads'' (1995) * ''Roads without Caravans'' (1993) * ''This world that isn't mine'' (1992) * ''Say that with tears'' (1990) * ''Vinguerka'' (1987) * ''The Doll of Mameliga'' (1986) * ''Condemned for Surviving'' (1984) * ''The Seventh Daughter'' (1979) * ''Savina'' (1957) * ''The Price of Freedom'' (1955) * ''The Ursitory'' (1946)

External links

Mateo Maximoff's biography
Rombase
Mateo Maximoff's bio
''Romany Kultury i Dzhiipen'' (in Russian)
Mateo Maximoff's bio
''Unionsverlag'' (in German)

, ''O Vurdon'' (in Italian and English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Maximoff, Mateo 1917 births 1999 deaths 20th-century French non-fiction writers French evangelicals French people of Russian descent French Romani people Kalderash people Manouche people People of Russian-Romani descent Romani Christians Romani writers Writers from Barcelona Spanish emigrants to France 20th-century French male writers