Katarina Taikon

Katarina Taikon-Langhammer (29 July 1932 – 30 December 1995) was a Swedish Romani activist, leader in the civil rights movement, writer and actor, from the Kalderash caste. She was the sister of Rosa Taikon. She has been called the Martin Luther King of Sweden. Family background Taikon's grandparents, Cori Caldares and his wife, came to Sweden with their twelve children at the turn of the century. They adopted the surname Taikon as it was already common in Romani communities, allowing them to avoid revealing they had recently immigrated. One of the twelve children was Johan Taikon, Katarina Taikon's father, who working in both copper and silversmithing. Early life In 1932 Katarina Taikon was born in a camp near Örebro to Johan Dimitri Taikon (1879–1950) and a Swedish woman, his second wife, who died when Katarina was only one year of age. She had three older siblings: Paul, Rosa, and Paulina.