Gheorghe A. Lăzăreanu-Lăzurică or George Lăzurică, also known as Lăzărescu-Lăzurică or Lăzărică (1892 – ?), was a leader of the Romani (Gypsy) community in Romania, also remembered for his support of Romania's interwar far-right. Originally a musician and formally trained entrepreneur from an assimilated background, he became conscious about his ethnic roots while serving with the Romanian Land Forces in World War I. A pioneer of Romani-themed literature, he became active within the General Association of Gypsies in Romania in 1933, but broke away that same year to establish the (eventually more powerful) General Union of Roma in Romania. From September 1933 to May 1934, Lăzurică was also a "Voivode of the Gypsies", recognized as such by various local tribes. He and his followers came to resent ethnic designation as "Gypsies", and pleaded for the usage of "Romanies", first proposed to them by Nicolae Constantin Batzaria. Lăzurică himself tried to introduce the term Zgripți as a reference to the people's legendary ancestors.
Though credited with inventing Romani political symbolism and noted for invoking a worldwide tribal identity, Lăzurică and his followers abstained from Romani nationalist activism, preferring to focus on social reform, and accepted some measure of integration with mainstream Romanian society. The General Union cooperated with the Romanian Orthodox Church, spreading Christianity among nomads whom it helped to settle, and competing for baptisms with the Romanian Greek Catholics. From 1933, Lăzurică blended his Romani identity with Romanian nationalism, and finally with fascism: he campaigned for the National Agrarian Party and maintained contacts with the Iron Guard, while allegedly imitating Adolf Hitler in his public persona. He was sidelined by the General Union in 1934, after a violent conflict during which he was forced to deny his belonging to the Romani ethnicity.
Lăzurică soon recanted and involved himself in other projects, with reports suggesting that he was planning a research trip to the British Raj, or that he declared himself "President" of the Romanian Romanies. He still attempted to rally support for his politics, and in 1937 became leader of the Citizens' Association of Roma in Romania. This new group was more explicitly far-right, antisemitic, and assimilationist, viewing the Romanians and Romanies as people of a "shared destiny", equally threatened by foreigners; there followed an extended polemic with other Romanies, and with Romanian left-wingers, which included Lăzurică was the victim of a death hoax. By 1938, the Association was openly supporting the fascist National Christian Party, of which Lăzurică himself became a member. In the final known stages of his career, Lăzurică became a critic of Orthodoxy, reporting on its previous slave-owning practices and drawing suspicion that he had converted to Catholicism. Upon the start of World War II, he suggested colonizing Romanies on Romania's borders.
Activities Rise to fame Reportedly born as Gheorghe Lăzărescu in 1892,Williams, p. 23 the future activist belonged to the musicians' tribe of the Romani community, or Lăutari; one report of 1934 suggests that he was still an outstanding performer.Michel Condrus, "Une mission va rechercher aux Indes les orgines de la race tzigane", in Le Journal, August 27, 1934, p. 4 While sometimes introduced as "Mr. Lăzurică the lawyer","Știri mărunte. Locale", in Unirea. Foaie Bisericească-Politică, Issue 29/1934, p. 4 he had in fact graduated from the Higher Commercial School of Bucharest, and, by 1933, was running his own forestry warehouse in that same city. "27 august – Ziua Mișcării Romilor din România. Ziua Activistului Rom", in Pata-Cluj. Buletin Informativ, July 18, 2016Marushiakova et al., p. 332 As reported by Romanian writer Cezar Petrescu, he was originally dismissive of his ethnicity, being the "son of people who had forgotten their origin." He was drafted into the campaign of World War I, and saw action at Topraisar in Northern Dobruja. Wounded and left for dead in the trenches, "he was lifted and dragged out of there by the Țambalagiu Gypsy Ioniță Gheorghe, and it was then and there, under machine-gun fire, that he swore he would dedicate his life for the salvation of his breed."Cezar Petrescu, "Lăzurică, martir rom", in Curentul, February 22, 1935, p. 1 In a 1934 speech calling on "public figures of Gypsy origin to stick to their race", he advanced the claim that there were "more than two hundred thousand" Romani civil servants, listing "a large number of high-ranking officials, military officers and other well-known intellectuals, who, having held good positions, are now called Romanians"."Romániában kétszázezer köztisztviselő cigány származású", in Magyarság, May 24, 1934, p. 11
Lăzurică's main activity was as a journalist, published by both Universul and Adevărul,Williams, p. 23. See also Marushiakova et al., p. 332; Matei (2012), p. 57 though he also contributed verse—in 1936, Az Est newspaper called him "an excellent Gypsy poet"."Meg ez történt ma", in Az Est, June 9, 1936, p. 4 Described by a Dreptatea columnist as a "remarkably talented raconteur","Note. Țiganii și conștiința etnică", in Dreptatea, October 11, 1933, p. 1 he wrote and published a number of "Roma historical novels". Lăzurică still used Romanian, but now expressed his pride at having Romani heritage, and some time after 1930 changed his name to the hyphenated form, with Lăzurică sounding more like his Romani vernacular (as reported by sociologist Ion Duminică, this was originally a nickname used by his Romani grandfather). Gheorghe also married a Czechoslovak Romani, Marta. Little is known about her background, other than her ethnic origin, her claim to fluency in 5 languages, and her qualification as a stenographer.Marushiakova et al., pp. 451–452
Lăzurică's life and career coincided with the earliest attempts to create a Romani political caucus. Some of the first steps in this direction occurred in 1919 Transylvania, which was in the process of uniting with Romania. "Gypsy gatherings", which demanded increased rights and sedentarization of the Romanies within Greater Romania, were nevertheless forgotten by the public, as even some of the active participants refrained from discussing them later in the interwar.Petre Matei, "Adunările țiganilor din Transilvania din anul 1919", in Revista Istorică, Part I: Vol. XXI, Issues 5–6, 2010, pp. 467–487; Part II: Vol. XXII, Issues 1–2, 2011, pp. 135–152. See also Matei (2012), pp. 30–31, 56 A first documented effort of organizing the Romanies into a political body occurred in 1926, when Lazăr Naftanailă (or Naftanoilă), "a wealthy peasant of Gypsy origin",Barany, p. 101 established a Neo-Rustic Brotherhood, centered on Calbor.Achim (2004), p. 154; Dieaconu & Costachie, p. 184; Klímová-Alexander, pp. 168–169, 201; Marushiakova et al., pp. 326, 393, 430–431; Matei (2012), pp. 31, 56–57, 66; Williams, p. 23 Naftanailă was among the first activists to advocate the creation of another ethnonym to replace țigani ("Gypsies", from Athinganoi), and tried to impose "Neo-Rustics", or "new peasants", as a non-discriminatory alternative.Matei (2012), pp. 56–57
The following year, a Lăutari syndicate, Junimea Muzicală, applied for registration in Ilfov County. This became the nucleus for the much larger General Association of Gypsies in Romania (AGȚR), unofficially formed by Calinic Șerboianu, a priest of the Romanian Orthodox Church, in April 1933.Matei (2012), p. 57; Marushiakova et al., pp. 327, 330 Lăzurică appears mentioned as the AGȚR general secretary, and "solely responsible" for is actions, in a news column of May 21. This piece also calls on "all friends of the association" to rally for the Universul protest against Hungarian irredentism, "so as to prove that Gypsies are good Romanians, [and are] devoted to their motherland.""Dela Asociația generală a țiganilor din România", in Universul, May 21, 1933, p. 12 Also then, Adevărul Literar și Artistic featured Lăzurică's review of Șerboianu's "interesting book", Les Tziganes. At the time, he took no issue with Șerboianu being a non-Romani (or gadjo), commending his ability to converse in the "High Gypsy language". Lăzurică estimated the total of Romanies in Romania at 800,000, and chided the author for estimating it at less than half that number; however, he himself noted that "our Gypsy minority assimilated so much into the native population that it is about to lose its language and customs."Marushiakova et al., pp. 329–330
Lăzurică's induction by the AGȚR was part of Șerboianu's attempt to cultivate a genuinely "Gypsy" activism. According to historian Petre Matei, "Șerboianu declared that although he was not a Gypsy, he pretended to be one because he wanted thus to win the trust of the people he hoped to organize. At the first meeting with G. A. Lăzurică, [he] did not pretend to be more than a sympathiser of the Gypsies."Marushiakova et al., p. 331 Lăzurică and Gheorghe Nicolescu (or Niculescu) are both recorded as AGȚR militants, and soon after as factional leaders; the schism between them and Șerboianu is most precisely dated to September of the same year.Klímová-Alexander, pp. 169, 201; Marushiakova et al., pp. 330, 367 As reported by ethnologist Gabriela Boangiu, this was the peak of a feud between Șerboianu and one of the AGȚR's "main leaders", Lăzurică.Boangiu, pp. 712–713 Șerboianu continued to preside over one of these organizations, which still used the AGȚR title. Most of its membership was absorbed by Lăzurică's more competitive General Union of Roma in Romania (UGRR).Klímová-Alexander, p. 204 This was run from Lăzurică's single-room apartment on Sârbească Street, Bucharest, and included his wife Marta as Vice President of the Female Section.Marushiakova et al., pp. 332, 362
First congresses
As seen by Boangiu, Lăzurică was "as quaint a figure as he was important for the associationist phenomenon of the Rroma ethnicity."Boangiu, pp. 712 Also known as the General Union of the Romanian Gypsies,Mudure, pp. 64–65 Lăzurică's group held congress on October 8 at Ileana Hall, in the Bucharest neighborhood of Moșilor."Și țiganii își au asociația lor. —În loc de una însă au două, dar nu se pot înțelege împreună", in Unirea Poporului, Issue 40/1933, p. 7R. A., "Ultima oră. Primul congres al romilor (țiganilor) din România. Cine a asistat și ce s'a vorbit. Dece șomează lăutarii, florăresele și ghicitoarele... ", in Cuvântul, October 10, 1933, p. 4Marushiakova et al., pp. 343, 349 This encounter among the various groups (including the community in Brăila, represented by Petre Bașno) aired grievances about shared concerns. The list included unemployment, for which Lăzurică placed blame on "modernism" and its indifference to Romani arts and crafts, but also the endemic nature of tuberculosis and sexually transmitted infections in tribal communities. Lăzurică was thankful that Romanian Police allowed his congress to take place, praising Prefect Gavrilă Marinescu for his tolerance.