His words :

When it comes to the question of "what is a Gypsy," the Romani understanding is as vague as that of the non-roma. And because unity and cooperation outwardly, i.e., with the larger society, cannot possibly become a reality until it has been achieved inwardly, i.e., among ourselves, this fact must be resolved both outwardly and inwardly before we can move ahead. Given that populations defined as "Gypsies" exist in their millions throughout central and eastern .Europe especially, and given that everywhere their relationship with the surrounding societies is one either of conflict or else of malign neglect, the ingredients are already there for a crisis of major proportions

In order for things to change, the Gypsy Image must be deconstructed, and a more accurate one put in its place - in the bureaucratic structures as well as in the textbooks.
For all his peculiar observations about humanity , H.G. Wells was right when he said that "human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe."


Dr. Hancock's mother, Kitty, is Romnichal a daughter of Arthur ( Jack ) Palmer who was a Romanichal scap merchant and locally reputed boxer in south east of England
However, his father Reginald (Redžo) is part Romungro: in particular, he is the descendant of a Hungarian speaker of North Central Romani named Benczi Imre.
He inherited the surname "Hancock" through Imre's daughter Maria, ( his grandmother) who married a member of a British West Country showman family of that surname.
There were 3 children
Marko who married Gertrude King from Romanichel family
Redzo who married Kitty Palmer - Ian's parents


He lived in Canada for less than six years before moving back to England in 1961.
There, he dropped out of school. This was not uncommon among Romanies; in fact, few or none of his other family members was literate. He then took up several kinds of jobs including that of a spray painter. It was at this time that his roommates, university students from Sierra Leone, helped him to learn the Krio Language of that country.
His knowledge of Krio and some academic connections helped him to enter the University of London.
He was one of only two candidates in an affirmative action program who qualified to receive higher education. In the late 1960s, he became a Romani rights activist after reading reports about anti-Romani discrimination in Britain. In particular, he took up the cause of Romani rights after British police caused a fire that killed two Romani children. In 1971, he graduated with a Ph.D in linguistics He was the first Romani in Britain to obtain that degree, though he began his postgraduate studies without a university degree.

Extracts from his book * We are the Romani People *

Romani studies

Hancock has published more than 300 books and articles concerning the Romani people and language (particularly the Vlax dialect). These works analyze the Romani people not only through Romani linguistics but also through history, anthropology, and genetics. He has also appeared in the documentary American Gypsy. He is currently writing a book called On Romani Origins and Identity. Hancock supports some of R.L. Turner's views on Romani history based on the Romani language. In particular, he agrees that the Dom left India much earlier than the Romani people, and that the latter left no earlier than 1000 A.D. In fact, he claims that the Indian musicians mentioned in the Shah-Nameh and the atsingani mentioned in The Life of St. George the Anchorite, both of which were previously believed to be ancestors of the Romani people, may have been the ancestors of the Domari people but not those of the Romani people. It is possible, in his view, that the Lom split off from the Romani people on reaching Armenia. Contrary to the popular view that the Romani people are descended from low-caste Indians who brought their occupations to Europe, he argues that the Romani people are descended from Indian prisoners of war of Mahmud of Ghazni. As evidence, he points to the presence of Indic words specifically of military origin and to a Banjara oral legend telling of Rajputs who left India through the Himalayas during the Ghaznavid invasions and never returned.He also believes that the Romani language originates in a koiné language, which he calls "Rajputic," between the many Indian languages spoken by the prisoners of war. In this regard, he finds it similar to several other Indian languages, especially Hindustani.
Source:- Wikipedia


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Dr Ian Hancock: eminent Romani scholar, activist - and highschool dropout - on the value of education 07-01-2005 | Brian Kenety Perhaps the world's best-known Romani scholar, Dr Ian Hancock never graduated from high school. A ninth-grade dropout, he nevertheless became the first Roma in British history to receive a PhD. Brian Kenety caught up with the visiting scholar in Prague this week.