Today’s Doodle, illustrated by Czech guest artist Filip Posivac, celebrates the centennial birthday of Slovakian-Romani writer and dramatist Elena Lacková, who is widely considered the first author in post-war Czechoslovakia to tell the story of the Romani people and the persecution they faced throughout World War II.
Born on this day in 1921 in Veľky Šariš, Czechoslovakia (modern-day Slovakia), Elena Lacková was raised in a settlement of Romani people—a historically oppressed European ethnic group of Indian origin. Although she was unable to pursue higher education due to anti-Romani laws, Lacková became a talented writer of her own accord, penning poems by moonlight as the only girl out of the 600 children in her settlement with the ability to read.
In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Czechoslovakia and persecuted its Romani settlements as part of the regime’s Roma Holocaust. Lacková survived these atrocities and became determined to reinvigorate Roma pride through theatre. Her first published work of literature—a play entitled “Horiaci cigánsky tabor” (“The Gypsy Camp Is Burning,” 1947)—depicted the collective hardships of the Romani people during the Holocaust, while providing a new perspective into their culture.
Lacková’s work continually uplifted the Romani community through literary mediums such as short stories, fairy tales, and radio plays. In 1970, she achieved yet another milestone as the first Romani woman in Czechoslovakia to graduate from university. A pioneer who received countless accolades, Lacková became the first Romani woman to receive one of Slovakia’s highest honors, the Order of Ľudovít Štúr III, awarded in 2001.
