Anita Awosusi

Anita Awosusi (born 1956) is a German writer, musician, documentary filmmaker and human rights activist. Herself a Sinti woman, she has been active in campaigns for the rights of the Sinti and Romani people. Since the 1990s, she has published works on the history of the Romani Holocaust, on the music and on stereotyped representations of Sinti and Roma.

Life and career Awosusi was born a member of the Sinti ethnic group in 1956 and had to leave primary school after only five years. The Romani and Sinti in Germany are among the biggest and the most discriminated ethnic groups. Her parents were survivors of the genocide of Sinti and Romani people under the rule of National Socialism in Europe. Among other activities, she was a board member of the Documentation and Cultural Centre of German Sinti and Romani in Heidelberg. As part of this activity, she worked as an outreach educator on the remembrance of the Romani Holocaust.

Awosusi authored and edited several publications about stereotyped representations of Sinti and Romani and the history of their persecution, both in language and in visual media such as photography. Further, she documented Romani music ranging from Hungarian Romani music to Sinti jazz and Flamenco in three volumes. As a musician, she created a show including music and poetry titled Rom Som – Ich bin ein Mensch – Lyrik und Lieder der Sinti und Romani (Rom Som - I am a Human Being) with the violinist Romeo Franz and other musicians. During these performances, Awosusi recited lamentations and lyrical texts about the persecution of Romani people during Nazi rule.

In 2016, Awosusi published her autobiography Vater unser. Eine Sintifamilie erzählt (Our Father. A Sinti family tale). In this work, she wrote about her family’s experience during the Romani Holocaust as well as how this stigmatisation has affected her own and her family's lives.

Awosusi's husband is the Nigerian-born engineer Hope Awosusi, who played as a jazz guitarist in the Awosusi Quintet, a jazz-funk-soul band from Karlsruhe; their daughter is the singer and activist Tayo Awosusi-Onutor.

Selected publications

As author

Anita Awosusi, Andreas Pflock: Sinti und Roma im KZ Natzweiler-Struthof – Anregungen für einen Gedenkstättenbesuch – Geschichte, Rundgang, Biografien, Informationen. Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrum. Deutsche Sinti und Roma, Heidelberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-929446-19-7. Anita Awosusi, Andreas Pflock: Den Opfern ein Gesicht geben – Historische Fotografien im Kontext der pädagogischen Arbeit des Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrums Deutscher Sinti und Roma, In: Silvio Peritore, Frank Reuter (eds.): InszenIerung des Fremden. Fotografische Darstellung von Sinti und Roma im Kontext der historischen Bildforschung, Heidelberg 2011, pp. 263–279, ISBN 978-3-929446-28-9 Vater unser. Eine Sintifamilie erzählt. Heidelberg: Verlag Regionalkultur, 2016, ISBN 978-3-89735-969-7.

As editor

Anita Awosusi (ed.): Die Musik der Sinti und Roma (= Schriftenreihe des Dokumentations- und Kulturzentrums Deutscher Sinti und Roma), Heidelberg 1996–1998, 3 volumes: Band I: Die ungarische „Zigeunermusik“, ISBN 3-929446-07-3. Band II: Der Sinti-Jazz, ISBN 3-929446-09-X. Band III: Der Flamenco, ISBN 3-929446-10-3. Anita Awosusi (ed.): Stichwort: Zigeuner – Zur Stigmatisierung von Sinti und Roma in Lexika und Enzyklopädien. Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-88423-141-3. Anita Awosusi (ed.): Zigeunerbilder in der Kinder- und Jugendliteratur. Wunderhorn, Heidelberg 2000, ISBN 3-88423-177-4.