Elena Marushiakova


Elena Marushiakova is a historian and ethnogapher working in field of Romani Studies, of Slovak and Russian origin, who has lived and studied in Slovakia and Bulgaria. In 2016 she became a Research Professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews. Elena Marushiakova became the president of the Gypsy Lore Society.

Life

Marushiakova started her professional career in the Ethnographic Institute at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, followed by work in the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Studies and Ethnographic Museum at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
From 2001 till 2004 Elena Marushiakova conducted research of Gypsies in Former Soviet Union in framework of the Complex Research Programme “Difference and integration” of the Universities of Leipzig and Halle. From 2013 till 2014 she was Professor Fellow in International Research Centre Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History at the Humboldt University of Berlin, in 2015 Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of St Andrews, and in 2016 Professor Fellow in Imre Kertész Kolleg at Friedrich Schiller University Jena.
From September 2016 Elena Marushiakova is Principal Investigator of ERC Advanced Grant and works as Research Professor in the School of History at the University of St Andrews.
Elena Marushiakova was the president of the Gypsy Lore Society and Funding and Scientific Committee member of the European Academic Network on Romani Studies. She is holder of the 2009 Fulbright New Century Scholars Award from the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.
Professor Elena Marushiakova received on the 7 February 2020 the Doctor Honoris Causa Award of Södertörn University in Stockholm for her great contribution to the Romani Studies.

Main activities

Elena Marushiakova and her co-author Veselin Popov conducted numerous ethnographic field researches and have published about Gypsies/Roma in Bulgaria, the Balkans, Central and Eastern Europe, South Caucasus and Central Asia. Their major works include the first book on Roma in Bulgaria, a book on Gypsies in Ottoman Empire, a book on Roma on the Black Sea, and a book on Gypsies in Central Asia and Caucasus.
Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov also published in the fields of Roma folklore and oral history – the "Studii Romani" Series. They initiated the first museum exhibition about Roma in Bulgaria in 1995-1996 and the first international museum exhibition "Roma/Gypsies in Central and Eastern Europe" in 1998-1999 in Budapest.
Elena Marushiakova and Veselin Popov read lecture's courses and hold public lectures at universities and research institutes, and at summer schools in Bulgaria, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Iceland, Finland, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Republic of Moldova, Turkey, the US and Australia.

Books