David Scheffel

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Scheffel in Czechia in 2008

David Z. Scheffel was a professor of anthropology at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.[1]

Biography[edit]

Born in former Czechoslovakia in 1954 or 1955,[2] he emigrated in August 1968 after the Soviet invasion with his parents and sister to Austria. Scheffel earned degrees in Canada in anthropology, culminating in his doctorate from McMaster University in 1988. His main areas of interest in the last couple of decades is ethnology studies of the Romani people in Europe. Scheffel is the author of numerous scholarly articles and books, including In the Shadow of Antichrist (Broadview Press, 1991), a work on the Russian Orthodox breakaway Old Believers sect in Alberta.

Scheffel's efforts to help impoverished Roma rebuild their community in the Slovakian village of Svinia is the subject of a 1998 documentary film, The Gypsies of Svinia.[3] He is also the author of the 2005 study Svinia in Black and White: Slovak Roma and their Neighbours (University of Toronto Press).

In June 2019, a Slovakian court in Prešov found Scheffel guilty of sexual abuse and illegal weapon possession and sentenced him to seven years in prison.[2][4] The verdict remains under appeal.[citation needed]

Books[edit]

  • Scheffel, David Z. (2005-04-01). Svinia in Black and White: Slovak Roma and their Neighbours. University of Toronto Press. ISBN 978-1-4426-0683-8.
  • "Roma Marginality/Romska Marginalita". Assessment of Marginality and Integration Among Disadvantaged Groups conference held at the Faculty of Philosophy. Prešov University. September 25–27, 2003.[5]
  • Scheffel, David (1991). In the Shadow of Antichrist: The Old Believers of Alberta. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press. ISBN 978-0-921149-73-6.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Sect finds freedom in wilderness". Calgary Herald. 26 December 1981. p. G23. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  2. ^ a b "B.C. university professor gets seven-year sentence in Slovakia". The Vancouver Sun. 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2023-09-13.
  3. ^ "The Gypsies of Svinia". Collection. National Film Board of Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  4. ^ "A Canadian professor accused of sexual abuse gets 7 years in Slovak prison". The Slovak Spectator. 2019-06-19. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
  5. ^ Chalupová, Andrea (2003-10-20). "Roma marginality and integration discussed at conference". The Slovak Spectator. Retrieved 2023-09-14.