Rajko Đjurić, born on October 3, 1947 in Malo Orašje (near Belgrade), Serbia (SFR Yugoslavia), was a Serbian Romani writer and academic. He was also politically active as the leader of one of Roma parties in Serbia - Roma Union of Serbia.
He studied philosophy at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Philosophy (1967–1972). In 1986, he obtained a Doctorate of Sociology with his dissertation: Culture of the Roma in S.F.R. Yugoslavia. In 1991, he moved to Berlin, avoiding involvement in the Yugoslavian wars.
He wrote more than 500 articles and, until leaving Yugoslavia, was the chief redactor for the cultural section of the newspaper Politika in Belgrade. He was the President of the International Romani Union and is the General Secretary of the Romani Centre of PEN International. His literary works have been translated into more than five languages. In 2011, he co-founded a Romani academy of arts and sciences in Belgrade and has remained its president ever since.
Rajko Đjurić is the author of the several poetry collections published in Serbian, German, French, Polish, Italian, and Spanish, as well as the radio drama “Hidden Word,” which won the European award in Spain. He was co-screenwriter of the film “Dom za vešanje,“ directed by Emir Kusturica and co-author of the drama “Zoran Đinđić“ (with Zlatko Paković).
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