Károly Bura Gypsy First Violinist

This excellent book is the first to present the life and work of legendary first violinist Károly Bura. Tracing the life path of Károly Bura, the author of the book, Tamás Hajnáczky, succeeds in presenting the whole turbulent historical epoch after the breaking up of the Austro-Hungarian empire, a time when Hungarian Gypsy musicians together with their compatriots experienced Trianon trauma and took part in an affirmation of the Hungarian national idea. The book tells the fascinating story of Hungarian Gypsy musicians, who were not simply passive recipients of policy measures and victims of historical circumstances but were also active architects of their lives and who made a significant contribution to Hungarian culture and Gypsy culture as well. The young, but already experienced scholar, Tamás Hajnáczky, succeeds in superbly illustrating how the efforts of Károly Bura, and the Gypsy musicians' organizations in which he was a moving force, contributed to making Gypsy music an inseparable part of Hungarian national culture. The book presents the struggle of Károly Bura to secure for Gypsy musicians an equal and decent place in Hungarian society, and, at the same time and within that framework, how he contributed to the preservation and development of the Gypsy musicians' identity. The book demonstrates novelty, originality, and distinctiveness and is a must reading for everybody interested not only in Gypsy music, Roma history but also for history scholars interested in the region and this specific historical period.