Elena Lacková

Elena Lacková (née Elena Doktorová; also known as Ilona Lacková; 22 March 1921 – 1 January 2003) was a Slovak Romani writer and playwright, author of literature for Roma children and youth.

Life and works Elena Lacková was born in Veľký Šariš, the first of five children of the Roma fiddler Mikuláš Doktor and a Polish mother. Her poem London – Paris – Veľký Šariš was broadcast on the radio. After attending elementary school, Elena Lacková continued her education in the nearby town of Prešov from 1932 to 1935. In 1939 she wrote her first play called The Transplanted Flower, which, however, was not allowed to be performed. She married Jozef Lacko, with whom she had six children, one died during World War II. Her wartime experiences are among the central themes of her works. In 1948 she wrote the play Horiaci cigánsky tábor (A Burning Gypsy Camp), which she rehearsed with people from the settlement where she lived at the time. After the press of the time reported on it, the actors and actresses were invited by the Ministry of Social Affairs in Prague to perform the play in the border areas of the Czech lands, to which many Roma had been resettled from Slovakia. In 1951, Elena Lacková began her work in the Regional People's Committee, where she looked after Roma. After graduation, she worked for two years as a teacher and social worker in Ústí nad Labem, then as a social curator in eastern Slovakia.

Her granddaughter is the actress Alžbeta Ferencová.

After 1989, Lacková became the president of the Cultural Association of Gypsy Roma and was the editor of the magazine Romano ľil. On her last journey, on Saturday 4 January 2003, she was accompanied by more than 200 people, and among the mourning bouquets was one from Slovak President Rudolf Schuster.

Works Sources: 1935: London – Paris – Veľký Šariš, Poems 1946: Horiaci cigánsky tábor, divadelní hra/ A Burning Gypsy Camp Stage play 1952: Nový život/New Life, Stage play 1955: Rómské srdce/Heart of the Roma, Stage play 1988: Žužika, Radio drama 1992: Rómske rozprávky – Romane paramisa, bilingual book 1994: Veľký primáš Baro" / Baro primašis Baro, Hrbatý Maren (Short stories) 1997: Narodila jsem se pod šťastnou hvězdou – Autobiography. (English ed."A false dawn 2000 ) 2003: Husle s tromi srdcami / Lavuta trine jilenaca/ Violine mit 3 Herzen, – Short stories

Novellas Život vo vetre/Leben im Wind O mule na aven pale/Mŕvi sa nevracajú/Die Toten kehren nicht zurück Primáš Bari

Read also Portréty – Elena Lacková. 1997. In: Romano džaniben 4 (1997), vol. 1–2, 69–87. Hübschmannová, Milena. 2001. Osmdesáté narozeniny Ilony Lackové: Uľiľom tel a bachtali čercheň. In: Romano džaniben 8 (2001), vol. 1–2, 12–27. Donert, Celia. 2017. The Rights of the Roma. The Struggle for Citizenship in Postwar Czechoslovakia. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.