Dragoljub Acković

Dragoljub Acković (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгољуб Ацковић; 23 November 1952 – 27 June 2025) was a Serbian writer, academic, activist and politician. He was a prominent member of the Roma community in Serbia and wrote extensively on the history and identity of the Roma people. Acković served in the National Assembly of Serbia from 2020 to 2024 as a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS).

Early life and academic career

Acković was born in the village of Osipaonica, Smederevo, in what was then the People's Republic of Serbia in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He attained university degrees in political science and ethnology from the Faculty of Philosophy, took post-graduate studies at the Faculty of Law, and received a doctorate in Romological studies from the United Nations University for Peace.[1]

Author and community activist

Acković penned more than twenty books and several hundred articles on the subject of the Roma community. His book The Roma in Belgrade focuses on the history of the Roma community in Serbia's capital; he notes that the Roma have lived in the city since at least 1328 and contends that for many centuries there was no hostility between the Serb and Roma communities. The work also addresses contemporary discrimination against the Roma community and argues for improved access to education as a means of breaking down modern prejudices.[2]

He joined the Association of Writers of Serbia in 1997 and was a member of the Commission for the Study of Roma Life and Customs in the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. From September 2011 until his death, he acted as deputy president of the International Roma Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was also a member of the National Committee for Intangible Culture Heritage in the Serbian ministry of culture, information, and informational society, and for over twenty years he worked as editor for the Roma programming at Radio Belgrade. He was the founder and director of the museum of Roma culture in Belgrade and of the radio station Khrlo e Romengo and started numerous other media initiatives in the Romani language.[3]

In September 2012, he became deputy director of Serbia's office for human and minority rights. In 2020, he was involved in efforts to reduce the spread of COVID-19 among members of the Roma community.[4]

Acković became a member of the International Commission for the Truth About Jasenovac in 2007. Three years later, he became president of Milan Bulajić's Genocide Research Fund.[5] In 2018, he curated an exhibition entitled, "Suffering of Roma in the First World War" at the Museum of Vojvodina.[6]

Politician and representative

Roma political organizations

Acković was the first president of the Roma Congress Party. He was active in the World Romani Congress from its third convention in 1981 and was elected its president in April 2013.[7] In this capacity, he condemned increasing attacks on Roma people in Europe and around the world.[8]

He also served on Serbia's Roma National Council. He led his own electoral list in the 2014 council elections and was elected when the list won two out of thirty-five seats.[9][10] He did not seek re-election in 2018.

Serbia

Acković was a Social Democracy candidate for the national assembly of Serbia in the 1997 Serbian parliamentary election, appearing in second place on the party's electoral list in Čukarica.[11] The list did not win any seats in the division.[12] This was the last Serbian parliamentary election where the country was divided into separate electoral constituencies.

Acković encouraged Roma people in Kosovo to support the Serb Civic Initiative in the 2013 Kosovan local elections.[13]

He was given the 191st position on the Progressive Party's Let's Get Serbia Moving list in the 2012 Serbian parliamentary election.[14] The list won seventy-three mandates, and he was not elected.

Parliamentarian

Acković received the 165th position on the SNS's For Our Children party list in the 2020 Serbian parliamentary election and was elected when the list won a landslide majority with 188 out of 250 seats.[15] In his first assembly term, Acković was deputy chair of the assembly committee on human and minority rights and gender equality, as well as chair of a subcommittee for Roma affairs and a member of the committee's working group for initiatives, petitions, and proposals. He was also a member of the labour committee,[a] Serbia's delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the Francophonie, and Serbia's parliamentary friendship groups with France, India, and Russia.[16]

He was promoted to the 105th position on the SNS's list in the 2022 Serbian parliamentary election and was re-elected when the list won a plurality victory with 120 seats.[17] In his second term, he was a member of the committee on human and minority rights and gender equality, once again a member of Serbia's delegation to the parliamentary assembly of the Francophonie, and the head of Serbia's parliamentary friendship group with Bangladesh.[18]

In the 2023 parliamentary election, he appeared in the 156th position on the SNS list and was not re-elected when the party won 129 seats.[19] His term ended when the new assembly convened in February 2024.

Death

Acković died on 27 June 2025, at the age of 72.[20]

Notes

  1. ^ Formally known as the Committee on Labour, Social Issues, Social Inclusion, and Poverty Reduction.

References

  1. ^ DRAGOLJUB ACKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 September 2020.
  2. ^ Jelena Ilić, "Istorija jednog naroda", Blic, 17 June 2010, accessed 24 September 2020.
  3. ^ DRAGOLJUB ACKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 September 2020.
  4. ^ "Đorđević: Romi treba da imaju ista prava i zaštitu od korona virusa", Danas, 6 April 2020, accessed 24 September 2020.
  5. ^ DRAGOLJUB ACKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 September 2020.
  6. ^ "Izložba 'Stradanje Roma u Prvom svetskom ratu' u Muzeju Vojvodine, 021.rs, 18 February 2018, accessed 24 September 2020.
  7. ^ DRAGOLJUB ACKOVIĆ, Otvoreni Parlament, accessed 23 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Lider Roma traži zaštitu zajednice zbog napada huligana", Radio Slobodna Evropa, 23 October 2013, accessed 24 September 2020.
  9. ^ Избори за чланове националног савета ромске националне мањине, одржани 26. октобра 2014. године (непосредни избори), ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ ("Англунипе-Напредак" Драгољуб Ацковић), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 24 September 2020.
  10. ^ Избори за чланове националног савета ромске националне мањине, одржани 26. октобра 2014. године (непосредни избори), РЕЗУЛТАТИ ИЗБОРА (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за чланове Националног савета ромске националне мањине), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 24 September 2020.
  11. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године, ЗБИРНЕ ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (4 Чукарица), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 20 September 2020.
  12. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године, (Извештај о укупним резултатима избора за народне посланике у Народну скупштину Републике Србије, одржаних 21. и 28. септембра и 5. октобра 1997. године), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 20 September 2020.
  13. ^ "Dragoljub Acković: Romi sa Kosova da podrže "Srpsku" listu na lokalnim izborima", Nova srpska politička misao, 26 October 2013, accessed 24 September 2020.
  14. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине, 6. мај 2012. године, ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (ПОКРЕНИМО СРБИЈУ - ТОМИСЛАВ НИКОЛИЋ (Српска напредна странка, Нова Србија, Асоцијација малих и средњих предузећа и предузетника Србије, Коалиција удружења избјеглица у Републици Србији, Покрет снага Србије - БК, Народна сељачка странка, Бошњачка народна странка, Демократска партија Македонаца, Ромска партија, Покрет влашког уједињења, Покрет социјалиста, Покрет привредни препород Србије)), Republika Srbija - Republička izborna komisija, accessed 12 September 2020.
  15. ^ "Ko je sve na listi SNS za republičke poslanike?", Danas, 6 March 2020, accessed 30 June 2020.
  16. ^ DRAGOLjUB ACKOVIC, Archived 2021-12-07 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 June 2025.
  17. ^ "Ko su kandidati SNS za narodne poslanike?", Danas, 17 February 2022, accessed 17 April 2022.
  18. ^ DRAGOLjUB ACKOVIC, Archived 2022-11-30 at the Wayback Machine, National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, accessed 28 June 2025.
  19. ^ "Pogledajte ko su kandidati na Vučićevoj listi Srbija ne sme da stane", Danas, 3 November 2023, accessed 29 March 2024.
  20. ^ Преминуо Драгољуб Ацковић, Radio Television of Serbia, 27 June 2025, accessed 28 June 2025. (in Serbian)
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