Professional Community of Gypsy Blacksmiths in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Revealing a Gypsy group through the study of a professional group in it is the challenge that this book meets. Why does the professional group of blacksmiths appear to be so representative for a particluar Gypsy group, that of the Burgudzhi? The study presented here is an ethnography of the group of about 50 blacksmiths who live and work in Stolipinovo neighbourhood in the town of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The first chapter traces two professional communities of blacksmiths, that of the Agoupti in the Rhodope Mountains and that of the Egipkane in Macedonia and searches for parallels with the group of the Burgudzhi. The second chapter presents the Burgudzhi as Gypsy blacksmiths in the town of Plovdiv. The third chapter traces back the presence of the Gypsy blacksmith in Bulgarian folklore (in its oral genres as proverbs, legends, anecdotes and tales; in the kukeri performances; in the living fire ritual; in the folk character of the cult of Saint Athanasius). This book could be useful to everybody interested in the inter-ethnic relations in the Balkans and particularly to those who specialise on the Gypsy (Roma) life there.