Edward Dębicki (born Edward Krzyżanowski, 4 March 1935) is a Polish

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

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 def ...

. His work is connected with the

community and its cultural, itinerant and music

traditions A tradition is a system of beliefs or behaviors (folk custom) passed down within a group of people or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A component of cultural expressions and folklore, common exa ...

. Dębicki was born in Kałusz (Kalush), in present-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, 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 extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

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

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

and

Zielona Góra Zielona Góra (; ''Green Mountain''; ) is the largest city in Lubusz Voivodeship, located in western Poland, with 140,403 inhabitants (). The region is closely associated with vineyards and holds an annual Zielona Góra Wine Fest, Wine Fest. Zie ...

. In 1955 he founded, and became the director of, the music group ''Kcham (Sun)'' which later became Terno. He has taken part in accordion competitions in

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central 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 banks of the Silnic ...

and

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. 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 or Volynia ( ; see below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in Ukraine it is roughly ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 male musicians Polish accordionists Polish Romani people Romani musicians Romani poets Ukrainian Romani people Recipients of the Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis {{Ukraine-writer-stub