Girish Mahajan (Editor)

Romani anthem

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Lyrics
  
Žarko Jovanović, 1949

Adopted
  
1971

Music
  
Žarko Jovanović, 1949

Also known as
  
Opre Roma English: Up, Romanies

"Gelem, Gelem" is a song composed by Žarko Jovanović, often used as the anthem of the Romani people. The title has been adapted in many countries by local Roma to match their native orthography and spoken dialect of the Romani language. Some of the song's many titles include,

  • "Gyelem, Gyelem" (Hungarian orthography),
  • "Jelem, Jelem",
  • "Dzelem, Dzelem",
  • "Dželem, Dželem" (alternative Croatian and Latin Serbian and Bosnian orthography),
  • "Đelem, Đelem" (Croatian and Latin Serbian and Bosnian orthography),
  • "Djelem, Djelem" (German and French orthography),
  • "Ђелем, Ђелем" (Cyrillic Serbian and Bosnian orthography),
  • "Ѓелем, Ѓелем" (Slavic Macedonian orthography),
  • "Џелем, Џелем" (alternative Cyrillic Serbian and Bosnian orthography),
  • "Джелем, джелем" (Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian orthography),
  • "Opré Roma" and
  • "Romale Shavale".

    • In an interview with reporter Mike Kalezić, Jovanović himself titled the song "Opre Roma".

    After experiencing firsthand the incarceration of Roma during the Porajmos (the Romani Holocaust of World War II), Jovanović later composed the lyrics of "Gelem, Gelem" and set them to a traditional melody in 1949. The song was first adopted by delegates of the first World Romani Congress held in 1971.

    Alternate lyrics

    There are many versions of "Gelem, Gelem", notably those translated by Ronald Lee.

    References

    Romani anthem Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA