Antun Medven: The Life and Linguistic Legacy of a Croatian Priest through the Romanes Manuscript
Graz: Pluriben, 2026 (forthcoming)
Danijel Vojak and Stéphane Laederich explore the life and linguistic legacy of Antun Medven, a Croatian Catholic priest who spoke Romanes and registered the vocabulary of Roma living in his parish near Zagreb. The book examines Medven’s biography and the controversies surrounding his life and work, while presenting an analysis and transcription of his Romanes vocabulary, preserved only in manuscript form. It brings an important, little-known source into the study of Romanes and history in Croatia.
Dr. Danijel Vojak
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar (Croatia)A Scientific Adviser at the Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar in Zagreb, Dr. Vojak researches Roma history in Croatia and the former Yugoslavia, especially persecution and genocide in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) during the Second World War and remembrance of Roma victims. He has published extensively, coordinated national and international research projects, and serves on the Croatian delegation to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).
Dr. Stéphane Laederich
Executive Director of the Rroma Foundation, established in Switzerland in 1993, Dr. Laederich specializes in Romanes dialects, several of which he speaks fluently. He later taught at the University of Basel and pursued extensive linguistic research. He is co-author (with Lev Tcherenkov) of The Rroma (Schwabe, 2005) and has published numerous articles and reports about Roma. His most recent publication examines the Romanes dialects spoken by Roma in Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Russia.
