In 1808, when King John VI of Portugal and his family took flight from the invading French army and settled in Brazil, there were already large Gypsy communities in Bahia, Pernambuco, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. Contemporary accounts describe how for want of an official dance troupe the organizers of the royal welcome recruited Gypsies to dance at the palace, and how in spite of their services many of the dancers had to vacate their dwellings the next day to provide lodgings for the Portuguese exiles.

The presence of Gypsies in Brazil was due initially to their systematic persecution by the Inquisition, which regarded them as socially undesirable heretics and sorcerers. Transportation to Brazil was one of the severe punishments meted out to them, and the first transported Gypsy to land on Brazilian soil, Antonio de Torres, arrived in 1574. Throughout the colonial period the activities and residence of Gypsies were regulated, and measures were taken relating to the use of their language and their dress.

According to specialists, the Gypsies who settled in Brazil between the sixteenth and the nineteenth century belong to two major groups, the Brazilian Gypsies from Portugal, or Calones, and the Rom, Gypsies from elsewhere than the Iberian peninsula who arrived in Brazil after the country became politically independent in 1822. The Gypsies who have settled in Brazil in the twentieth century have come mainly from the Balkan peninsula or from central Europe. Many came via Mexico; others arrived in the Rio de la Plata region before spreading to Brazil and neighbouring countries; others landed directly at Brazilian ports.

The Calones have preserved certain of their domestic customs but in practice these are difficult to investigate since most Calones tend to conceal their Gypsy origins. In Rio de Janeiro they pass themselves off as Portuguese immigrants, and many of them are engaged in small- or large-scale trade, work in bars, shops and hotels, or drive taxis. The Rom tend to peddle such articles as bedspreads, carpets and cloth, deal in used cars, or repair cookers and cooking pots in hospitals, hotels and barracks. They are renowned for their skill as coppersmiths.

Most of Brazil's Gypsies belong to the following groups: the Kalderash, who consider themselves aristocrats and the true guardians of the Gypsy identity; the Macwaia (pronounced Matchuaia) who are inclined to abandon nomadism and live a "crypto-Gypsy" life and are thus tending to lose their identity; the Rudari, most of whom are from Romania, live and prosper in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro; the Horahane who originally came from Greece and Turkey and are mostly hawkers; and the Lovara whose culture is in marked decline and who pass themselves off as Italian immigrants.

The exact number of Gypsies living in Brazil today is not known. It has been estimated at 60,000 but some believe that the true figure is over 100,000. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics has no reliable data, for the Gypsies usually claim in censuses either that they are Brazilian or that they belong to other nationalities. They all speak at least three languages: Romani (their own language, which they call Romanes), Portuguese, and Spanish.

Those who have remained more or less faithful to their cultural patterns are almost without exception illiterate. The "crypto-Gypsies" on the other hand take pride in achieving literacy and in making a career in one of the liberal professions. Among them are law graduates, medical doctors, dentists and athletes, as well as radio singers, TV performers and footballers--although they do not always admit their origins.

The gayos (gadje, or non-Gypsies) know little about Gypsy life and cannot understand the Gypsy way of looking at the world. A wall of mutual ignorance divides Gypsy from gadje; as long as there is no attempt to bring them together, each will continue to reject the other, and the prejudices which surround the Gypsy culture will persist.

Press campaigns have been launched and approaches made to international organizations to promote the idea of a "Gypsy Statute" based on three fundamental principles: (1) the right to camp in every Brazilian commune, so that the nomads do not always come into conflict with municipal authorities; (2) the right to medical care and especially vaccination; and (3) the opportunity to become literate in Romani and in Portuguese so that they can safeguard their culture by preserving their language. It is clear that for nomads the best educational system is seasonal schooling.

Thus the Gypsies have been present throughout the historical and cultural evolution of Brazil. Although few studies have so far been devoted to them, it is impossible to understand Brazilian culture as a whole without taking into account the contribution of the Gypsies in the arts, literature, customs, and in the traditional life of the country.