From Coppersmith to Nurse

The life of Alyosha Taikon, the Swedish born son of a coppersmith, a member of the Kalderash clan of Romanies from Hungary. After working as a coppersmith and in the family circus he trained to be a male nurse, a decision which led to his rejection by the Gypsy community. His simply written story as told to Gunilla Lundgren has now been translated into English with the Romani (in the Kalderash dialect) version on facing pages and is extensively illustrated with photographs and humorous drawings and accompanied by footnotes for those using it as an aid to learning Romani. The second part of this unusual book consists of English translations of some typical Romani stories first told by Alyosha's father, Johan, in Romani and recorded on tape in 1949 which have been adapted by Donald Kenrick from the English translations of Erik Ljungberg.

Review: "Alyosha... is told in a straight forward simple way. But without Gunilla Lundgren's great knowledge of the Romani culture and her ability to give voice to ordinary but unique individuals, in a way that feels totally natural, it would not have come alive. Readers get an insight in the life and culture of the Roma people. There is not doubt of the truth of this story and the many black and white photographs, not all by professionals, underline the documentary nature of the story told." Lans Tidning in Dag Hedberg Vestmanlands; "This book about Aljosha is a piece of cultural history, written in a plain and sincere way that makes it remarkably strong and touching. I hope that every school will discover with joy the benefits to be gained from reading it!" Birgitta Fransson, Opsis kalopsis; "This is a wonderful book in which photographs, drawings and text combine to tell of an unusual life in Sweden during the nineteen hundreds. Alyosha is an outstanding person. He dared to follow his own road and in spite of the hard life he lived it has been full of the joy of love, music and dance. We must be thankful that with warmth and humour he wanted to share his story with us." Ulla Wentzel, Varmlands Folkblad 1998; "In this book in which Gunilla Lundgren has written down the story told by Aljosha Taikon, we get to know a humorous, warm and tender man who describes seventy years of life as a Gypsy in Sweden. We find out about the boy who loves to dance, to decorate and clean the family van and is afraid of rats and darkness. With great love he tells about his family, his many brothers and the father, the chief. Marianne Moren Svenska Dagbladet

Contents: Introduction by Donald Kenrick; 1.My birth; 2.Daddy; 3.Grandfather and grandmother; 4.Caravan; 5.Coppersmithing and tinsmithing; 6.Circus; 7.Mother; 8.Dance; 9.Fortune telling; 10.Second world war; 11.A new life in Stockholm; 12. The camp in Skondal; 13.Summers in Norrland; 14. Tent school; 15.A villa in Tantolunden; 16.Cleanliness and purity; 17.Gina; 18.Marriage; 19.Work, a flat and children; Tales told by Johan Taikon, Alyosha's grandfather