Romania’s Roma Historian Valentin Negoi Publishes Landmark Book on Europe’s Forgotten Past
Posted on 24 septembra, 2025 by admin2
Bucharest, September 2025 — Few communities in Europe carry a history as long, complex, and painfully overlooked as the Roma. Now, Romanian historian Ioan Valentin Negoi is determined to change that narrative. A researcher at the Roma Education Fund and one of the driving forces behind the online history platform RomStoria, Negoi has just released his latest work: The Untold History of the Roma in Romania – From Europe’s Longest Period of Slavery to the Holocaust.
The book, published by Hyperliteratura with illustrations by the Roma painter Ionuț Cristea and edited by Andrei Ruse, was launched with the support of our team in Romania. It builds on four years of painstaking research and digital storytelling through RomStoria, a project that has been steadily piecing together chapters of Roma history too often excluded from school curricula and public debate. Its foreword is written by Theodor Paleologu, essayist, professor, diplomat, former Romanian Minister of Culture, and current president of the Paleologu Foundation.
For editor Andrei Ruse, the book fills a glaring void in Romania’s historical discourse:
“The Untold History of the Roma in Romania will be one of those books that strikes hard against ignorance. I had long been looking for such a title (to read it—I never thought I’d have the opportunity to publish it), a book where I could learn as much as possible about Roma culture, their history, the way they were held in slavery for more than five centuries, the tragedies they endured, but especially what happened after their liberation.
Negoi Ioan Valentin has gathered all this information into a volume that explains this story, from A to Z, a story we know far too little about. It’s a short but fabulous journey, I assure you. And you will discover many new things, because there isn’t much available on this subject — very few books, and not for the general public, very few documentaries, and in schools there is silence—too much silence.
Mr. Negoi hasn’t started this work just yesterday or the day before; he has entire courses and plenty of online material where he explains the history of the Roma to everyone—and we’ll also talk about those at the right time.”
Negoi is no stranger to confronting Europe’s uncomfortable truths. In 2021, he earned his PhD in History from Valahia University in Târgoviște with a thesis on the deportation of Roma from Muntenia to Transnistria between 1942 and 1944, one of the darkest and least acknowledged episodes of Romania’s past. That research culminated in his 2023 publication, further cementing his role as a leading voice in Roma historical scholarship.
Beyond the pages of academia, Negoi is also a communicator. Through RomStoria and its spin-off RomStoria Interviews, available on YouTube, he brings historians, scholars, and community voices together to make Roma history accessible to wider audiences. His new book follows the same mission: to shine a light on centuries of systemic marginalization, from slavery to the Holocaust, and to ensure these stories are no longer erased from Europe’s collective memory.
We recently had the opportunity to ask historian Ioan Valentin Negoi a few questions about his newly launched book. His answers shed light not only on the writing process but also on why reclaiming this forgotten history is essential to building a more honest and inclusive future.
Interview with Historian Ioan Valentin Negoi
How did the idea for this book come about, and what was your personal motivation behind it?
The idea came after I read Timothy Snyder’s 20 Lessons on Tyranny. I told Claudia Craiu, REF’s Communication Director, that it would be interesting to create a similar book, but dedicated to Roma history. As always, her response was immediate: “Let’s do it”. I even imagined it as 21 Lessons on Roma History. Soon after, I started rereading the scripts of the RomStoria episodes and gathering material for those 21 lessons. I then shared the manuscript with Andrei Ruse, who had a different vision that ultimately shaped the project into The Untold History of the Roma in Romania.
What are some of the lesser-known or surprising aspects of Roma history that you discovered while researching this volume?
I discovered many unexpected elements. For example, the ways Romanian voivodes acquired Roma slaves, and the differences between Roma slavery and other forms of social dependence in the Romanian lands, such as rumânia or vecinia, which tied Romanian peasants to the land and their lords. The book highlights these contrasts and nuances, showing just how complex and diverse the system of servitude in our past really was.
The book addresses a collective trauma and a history often ignored. What do you see as the greatest risk when this history is not known or acknowledged?
With this book, I wanted to bring public attention to the 500 years of slavery and the Roma experiences during the Holocaust. When this history is not known or acknowledged, the risk is enormous: ignorance, denial, and even indifference toward these traumas are perpetuated. Unfortunately, there are still many Roma and non-Roma who do not recognize this trauma and its consequences. Failing to acknowledge it allows the roots of discrimination to remain alive, shaping our social relations to this day.
How can reading this book help change perceptions and combat stereotypes about the Roma?
The book clearly demonstrates that the Roma are not outsiders, but an integral part of the history and culture of this region. Reading it can help shift perceptions by providing context, explanations, and concrete stories that debunk prejudices and reveal how deeply the Roma are connected to the development of Romanian society. Understanding this history is the first step toward respect, empathy, and ultimately overcoming stereotypes.
What message would you like to convey to young Roma and non-Roma readers of the book?
I hope that young readers, whether Roma or non-Roma, come to see that Roma history is not just about numbers or statistics. It is a living, complex, and dynamic history, full of experiences, suffering, but also significant contributions.
What are your future plans in research and publishing?
I like to say I want to live independently until I’m 100 and publish more than 40 books! (laughs) But in the near future, I’m preparing a volume dedicated to the rudar community, exploring the ongoing debate about whether they are considered Roma or not.
The Artistic Contribution
Alongside Negoi’s historical research, the book also comes alive visually through the work of the Roma painter Ionuț Cristea, who created its illustrations. Reflecting on his contribution, Cristea shared:
It was a great pleasure to contribute to this book. Through art, I wanted to show the history of the Roma — a part of our past that is often left untold. For me, it was important to put something from my soul into it and to leave behind a work that speaks for itself.
With The Untold History of the Roma in Romania, Negoi is not only documenting the past. He is demanding that Europe face it and in doing so, making space for a more honest conversation about identity, justice, and belonging.
The book is already available online and in select bookstores, but readers will also have the chance to meet the author and his team in person this October at the official launch event hosted at Cărturești Bookstore. All copyright proceeds from the volume will be donated to the Roma Education Fund Romania and directed toward providing financial support for young Roma.
