Zlitchro Demitro

Plot C, Section 19, Lot 2
Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Toronto

Born in 1865 in the city of Belgrade in what was then called Serbia, Demitro was 35 when he was crowned “King of the Gypsies.” A few years later he emigrated to Canada and became a naturalised citizen. Demitro arranged for others to follow and helped set up homesteads in Alberta and Manitoba for his people who began arriving from Russia, Serbia, and Greece. He died on February 27, 1939 at the age of 74. In this same plot is his wife, Romanian-born Anastasia Demitro, the “Queen of the Gypsies,” who came to Canada in 1897. She died on September 16, 1929 at her 186A Queen Street West residence (where Nathan Phillips Square is located today) at the age of 64, or so the interment book lists. Speculation was that she was more than 70.

Mike Filey
Mount Pleasant Cemetery: An Illustrated Guide
Second Edition Revised and Expanded

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