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The Taikon Sisters

by Alva Karlsson, Malgomajskolan

To be a part of the Romani people hasn’t been easy through the years. Not in Sweden, not anywhere. Not many knew who the Roma were or where they came from. So many rumors spread like wildfire and the Roma were then seen as dirty and filthy, and people thought that they stole things. This made them persecuted. The Roma got beaten, discriminated and called names. The Romani people didn’t have a place in society, but two of many people who fought for their rights were Rosa and Katarina Taikon, who were themselves Roma and sisters.

The Romani people are said to have come to Sweden around 1500. They are a wandering minority and knew a lot of metals and ironwork, which was highly appreciated in countries like Sweden. But it was so appreciated that the Roma became slaves is Eastern parts of the world. The Roma were used for their talents. They didn’t become slaves in every country, but they were still badly treated. No one knew where the foreign people came from, and there were many rumors that they were Russian spies, which they weren't. This rumor gave the Roma the discriminatory name “tattare” in Sweden. But there was something thrilling and magical about this people; they could play neverseen instruments and could sing in an unknown language. The Roma could not get hired and have a job, but they could perform for us. Many Romani circuses started to grow, and became popular. 1939 came the awful Holocaust which killed thousand of people, including the Roma. Many Roma tried to flee from this, and came to countries like Sweden and England for help. But when they came, they got discriminated.

Rosa Taikon was the oldest daughter of the amusement park owner Johan Taikon in Sweden, and with her little sister Katarina they fought for the Romani people’s rights in society. The Taikon family wasn’t allowed to stay in one place more than 10 weeks because of the law against vagrancy, this made it hard for the family to get enough of money. So just at 10 years old Rosa started working to help her family, and then educated herself to become a silversmith which was a family tradition among the men. And through her smithing she could modernize the Romani silver jewelry and designs which ended up in Sweden's National Museum. But the thing that Rosa Taikon was more known for was to be an apostille for equal rights for the Roma. Katarina Taikon was only 9 months old when her and Rosa’s mother died from tuberculosis. Katarina ended up in many orphan homes through the years because of that. Katarina became really interested in the Romani rights as well and fought for equality. After Rosa’s and Katarina’s brother got murdered, they wrote the book Zigenerska (translated as Gypsy Woman)  together in 1963. In 1969, Katarina started to write the popular book series Katitzi which got translated in many other languages like German for example.

The Taikon sisters were really active in the debate about the Romani people, and spread a lot of information about the earlier outlandish people. A society like Sweden didn’t know that much about what the Romani people wereo r what they did, this made the minority intimidating and open to speculate around. So just to talk about the Roma helped the society to accept them, and Katarina’s books helped just with that. In 1982 suffered from a cardiac Katarina Taikon at just 50 years old and remained in coma until passing away in 1995, but Rosa kept fighting for the romani people. In 1985 became Rosa Taikon had her own programme on national Swedish radio and in 2013 she won the Olof Palme Award for her contribution to human rights. In January of 2017, Rosa died at the age of 90.

You can’t say that the Roma have had it simple through the years, and you can’t say that it’s easy for them today either. Many haven’t even heard about what they are, and still there are many rumors about what people think they are. The Taikon sisters made a big difference and were big role models. With Rosa’s and Katarina’s effort so early in such a difficult time, so the information and knowledge of the roma could spread and it humanized them. The Roma could feel safer and be a part of society without having to flee. Rosa Taikon and Katarina Taikon made a big difference and fought for the human rights, which we all should be grateful for.