Country of residence

Bulgaria

Brief introduction

Assoc. Prof., Institute for Ethnology and Folklore Studies and Ethnographic Museum (IEFSEM) at Bulgarian Academy of Sciences [till 2010 – Ethnographic Institute and Museum at BAS]

Education

PhD, in History and Ethnology, 1985, High Attestation Commission

Academic profile

My interest in Romani Studies started in the mid-70’s of 20th century. My PhD thesis was devoted to Bulgarian Traditional Plays and Performances, in which Roma have specific important place. I am engaged in several national and international research projects and have a number of publications about Gypsies in Bulgaria, Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe. My major publications include the first monographic research on history, ethnography, social structure and culture of the Gypsies in Bulgaria (1997), book on Gypsies in Ottoman Empire (2000), book on Gypsies at Black Sea (2008). Together with Elena Marushiakova since 1994 we are publishing Series of Collections on Roma folklore “Studii Romani”. In 2001 we started to conduct research of Gypsies in Former Soviet Union firstly in framework of the Complex Research Programme “Difference and integration” of the Universities of Leipzig and Halle (till 2004) .My firm academic interest is in field of Romani Studies and I continue to conduct fieldresearch in the region of Central, Eastern and Souteastern Europe, as well as among Roma migrants from this region in other countries.

Publications

• Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 1997. Gypsies (Roma) in Bulgaria. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang.
• Marushiakova, Elena and Vesselin Popov. 2001. Gypsies in the Ottoman Empire. Hatfield: University of Hertfordshire Press
• Marushiakova, Elena, Udo Mischek, Vesselin Popov and Bernhard Streck. 2008. Zigeuner am Schwarzen Meer. Leipzig: Eudora Verlag.

Keywords

Romani history, identity, group structure, social organisation, migrations

Contact

studiiromani@yahoo.com browse members list