Olga Fečová, author, foster mother and pedagogical assistant, has passed away in the Czech Republic

Olga Fečová, a Romani author, foster mother and pedagogical assistant, has passed away. Her family announced her passing through Facebook.

For several decades, Ms Fečová dedicated herself to street children, with whom she danced, painted, rehearsed theatrical productions and sang. She was born in 1942 in Humenné, Slovak State as Olga Demeterová.   

Her parents were from musical families. At the age of five she moved with them to Prague, Czechoslovakia.

In 1968 she married renowned Romani musician Josef (Jožka) Fečo (1940 – 2013), who composed music and also performed – with musicians from his extended family, and later with his own children and grandchildren – in ensembles of the broadest possible genres of music. She raised two daughters with him. 

Ms Fečová dedicated herself to children from disadvantaged environments in her own employment. In 1996 she formalized this caregiving by establishing the Čhavorikaňi luma (in Romanes, "Children's World") ensemble in Beroun, Krupka, Náchod and Neratovice, Czech Republic.   

In recent years she has also been engaged in the Jileha project (run by the Slovo 21 NGO), which is oriented toward Romani women. She has been a member of the Czech Helsinki Committee since 1990.

In 2016 she was given the prestigious Roma Spirit award. The interview with her below is part of the Memory of the Roma project produced by ROMEA; you can turn on English subtitles for it by clicking the gear icon. 

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