Zamenhof published Esperanto in 1887, although his initial ideas date back as far as 1873. He grew up fascinated by the idea of aworld without war and believed that this could happen with the help of a newinternational auxiliary language (IAL).[3] The language was intended as a tool to gather people together through neutral, fair, equitable communication.[4] He successfully formed a community which has survived to this day, despite theWorld Wars of the 20th century[5] and various attempts toreform the language or create more modern IALs (Esperanto itself had displaced another similarly-motivated language,Volapük). Additionally, Esperanto has developed like other languages: through the interaction and creativity of its users.[6]
In light of his achievements, and his support ofintercultural dialogue,UNESCO selected Zamenhof as one of its eminent personalities of 2017, on the 100th anniversary of his death.[7][8] According to Esperanto communities, as of 2019 there are approximately 2 million people speaking Esperanto, including approximately 1,000 native speakers,[9][10] although evidence to that has been heavily disputed,[11] and the last major effort to improve the estimate occurred in 2004.[9]
Born into anAshkenazi family, at his birth Zamenhof was given the common Hebrew nameEliezer by his parents, which is translated into English asLazarus. However, as the area was a part of theRussian Empire at the time, his name was recorded on his birth certificate asЛейзер Заменгов,Leyzer Zamengov, using the Yiddish form of the forename and arussified version of his surname;[12] many later Russian language documents also include thepatronymicМаркович,Markovich « son of Mark » (in reference to his father, Markus), as is the custom in the language. His family name is of German origin and was originally writtenSamenhof; this was later transcribed into Yiddish asזאַמענהאָף, then re-romanized back asZamenhof. The change of the initial letter from «S» to «Z» is not unusual, as in German an initial «s» is pronounced[z].
In his adolescence, he used both the YiddishLeyzer and the RussianLazar when writing his first name. While at university, Zamenhof began using the Russian nameLyudovik (also transcribedLudovic or translated asLudwig) in place ofLazar, possibly in honour ofFrancis Lodwick, who in 1652 had published an earlyconlang proposal.[13] When his brother Leon became a doctor and started signing his name "Dr L. Zamenhof",[14] Zamenhof reclaimed his birth nameLazar and from 1901 signed his name "Dr L. L. Zamenhof" to avoid confusion with his brother. The two Ls do not seem to have specifically represented either name and the orderLudwik Lejzer is a modern convention.
Zamenhof was born on 15 December 1859,[b] the son ofMark andRozalia Zamenhof (née Sofer), in the multi-ethnic city ofBelostok[15] (nowBiałystok in Poland).[16][17][18] At that time, the city was in theGrodno Governorate of theRussian Empire. His parents were ofLitvak descent and were Jewish. He appears to have been natively bilingual inYiddish andRussian, however according to Zamenhof himself he used to speak mainly inPolish.[18] His father was a teacher of French and German. From him, Zamenhof learned both languages, as well asHebrew. He also spokeBelarusian, which was popular in Białystok. Polish became the native language of his children inWarsaw. In school, he studied the classical languagesLatin,Greek, andAramaic. He later learned some English, though in his own words not very well. He had an interest in Italian andLithuanian and learnedVolapük when it came out in 1880. By that time, his international language project was already well-developed.[19][20]
In addition to the Jewish Yiddish-speaking minority, the population of Białystok includedPolish Catholics and theRussian Orthodox (the latter of whom were mainly government officials), with smaller groups ofBelarusians,Germans and other ethnicities. Zamenhof was saddened and frustrated by the many quarrels among these groups. He supposed that the main reason for the hate and prejudice lay in the mutual misunderstanding caused by the lack of a common language. If such a language existed, Zamenhof postulated, it could play the role of a neutral communication tool between people of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.[21][22]
As a student at secondary school inWarsaw, Zamenhof attempted to create an international language with a grammar that was rich, but complex. When he later studied English, he decided that the international language must have simpler grammar. Apart from his parents' native languages Russian andYiddish and his adopted languagePolish, his projects were also aided by his mastery of German, a good passive understanding ofLatin, Hebrew and French, and a basic knowledge of Greek, English and Italian.[23]
By 1878, his projectLingwe uniwersala was finished.[24] However, Zamenhof was too young then to publish his work. Soon after graduation, he began to study medicine, first inMoscow, and later in Warsaw. In 1885, Zamenhof graduated from university and began his practice as a doctor inVeisiejai. After 1886, he worked as anophthalmologist inPłock and Vienna. While healing people there, he continued to work on his project of an international language.[25]
What later Esperantists calledUnua libro ("First book") was published in Russian, 1887.
For two years, he tried to raise funds to publish a booklet describing the language, until he received financial help from his future wife's father. In 1887, the book titledМеждународный язык. Предисловие и полный учебникъ (International language: Introduction and complete textbook) was published in Russian[26] under the pseudonym "Doktoro Esperanto" (Doctor Hoper, or literally "Doctor One Who Hopes"). Zamenhof initially called his language "Lingvo internacia" (international language), but those who learned it began to call itEsperanto after his pseudonym, and this soon became the official name for the language. For Zamenhof, this language, far from being merely a communication tool, was a way to promote peaceful coexistence between people of different cultures.[2]
In 1879, Zamenhof wrote the first grammar ofYiddish. It was partly published years later in the Yiddish magazineLebn un visnshaft.[27] The complete original Russian text of this manuscript was only published in 1982, with parallel Esperanto translation byAdolf Holzhaus, inL. Zamenhof, provo de gramatiko de novjuda lingvo (An attempt at a grammar of neo-Jewish language), Helsinki, pp. 9–36. In this work, not only does he provide a review of Yiddish grammar, but also proposes its transition to the Latin script and other orthographic innovations. In the same period, Zamenhof wrote some other works in Yiddish, including perhaps the first survey of Yiddish poetics (see p. 50 in the above-cited book).
A wave ofpogroms within theRussian Empire in 1882, includingCongress Poland, motivated Zamenhof to take part in theHibbat Zion, and to found aZionist student society in Warsaw.[28] He left the movement following the publication ofUnua Libro in 1887, and in 1901 published a statement in Russian with the titleHillelism, in which he argued that the Zionist project would fail due to Jews not having a common language.[28]
In 1914, he declined an invitation to join a new organization of Jewish Esperantists, the TEHA. In his letter to the organizers, he said, "I am profoundly convinced that every nationalism offers humanity only the greatest unhappiness ... It is true that the nationalism of oppressed peoples – as a natural self-defensive reaction – is much more excusable than the nationalism of peoples who oppress; but, if the nationalism of the strong is ignoble, the nationalism of the weak is imprudent; both give birth to and support each other".[28] TheHebrew Bible is among the many works that Zamenhof translated into Esperanto.
Zamenhof died in Warsaw on 14 April 1917,[b] possibly of a heart attack,[29] and was buried at theOkopowa Street Jewish Cemetery. The farewell speech was delivered by the chief rabbi and preacher of theGreat Synagogue in Warsaw,Samuel Abraham Poznański, who said: "There will be a time where the Polish soil and nation will understand what fame gave this great son of God to his homeland."[30]
Lidia Zamenhof in particular took a keen interest in Esperanto, and as an adult became a teacher of the language, travelling through Europe and to America to teach classes in it. Through her friendship withMartha Root, Lidia acceptedBahá'u'lláh and became a member of theBaháʼí Faith. As one of its social principles, the Baháʼí Faith teaches that an auxiliary world language should be selected by the representatives of all the world's nations.
Besides his linguistic work, Zamenhof published a religious philosophy he calledHomaranismo (the term in Esperanto, usually rendered as "humanitism" in English,[32] sometimes rendered loosely as humanitarianism or humanism), based on the principles and teachings ofHillel the Elder. He said of Homaranismo: "It is indeed the object of my whole life. I would give up everything for it."[33]
Hundreds of city streets, parks, and bridges worldwide have also been named after Zamenhof. InLithuania, the best-known Zamenhof Street is inKaunas, where he lived and owned a house for some time. There are others in Poland, the United Kingdom, France,Hungary,Croatia, theCzech Republic, Spain (mostly inCatalonia), Italy, Israel, Belgium, the Netherlands and Brazil. There are Zamenhof Hills in Hungary and Brazil, and a Zamenhof Island in theDanube.[38]
In some Israeli cities, street signs identify Esperanto's creator and give his birth and death dates, but refer to him solely by his Jewish name Eliezer, his original birth name. Zamenhof is honoured as a deity by the Japanese religionOomoto, which encourages the use of Esperanto among its followers. Agenus oflichen has been namedZamenhofia in his honour,[39] as well as the speciesHeteroplacidium zamenhofianum.[40]
Russian writerNikolaj Afrikanoviĉ Borovko[Wikidata], who lived inOdessa, together withVladimir Gernet[Wikidata], founded a branch of the first official Esperanto society Esrero in Russia. In the years 1896–97 N. A. Borovko became its chairman. A monument to L. Zamenhof was installed in Odessa in an ordinary residential courtyard. Esperantist sculptorNikolai Vasilyevich Blazhkov lived in this house, who in the early 1960s brought a sculptural portrait into the courtyard because the customs authorities did not allow the sculpture to be sent to the Esperanto Congress in Vienna.[41]
A public square in Gothenburg, Sweden is named Esperantoplatsen, where a café named Zamenhof opened in 2018.[42]
In Italy, a few streets are named after Esperanto, including Largo Esperanto in Pisa.[43]
In 1959,UNESCO honoured Zamenhof on the occasion of his centenary.[44] In 2015, it decided to support the celebration of the 100th anniversary of his death.[45]
His birthday, 15 December, is celebrated annually asZamenhof Day by users of Esperanto. On 15 December 2009, Esperanto'sgreen-starred flag flew on the Google homepage to commemorate Zamenhof's 150th birthday.[46]
In 1960, Esperanto summer schools were established inStoke-on-Trent in the United Kingdom by the Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB), which began to provide lessons and promote the language locally. There is a road named after Zamenhof in the city: Zamenhof Grove.[49]
As Zamenhof was born on 15 December 1859, the Esperanto Society of New York gathers every December to celebrate Zamenhofa Tago (Zamenhof Day in Esperanto).[50]
^abZasky, Jason (20 July 2009),"Discouraging Words",Failure Magazine, archived fromthe original on 23 January 2017, retrieved31 December 2013,But in terms of invented languages, it's the most outlandishly successful invented language ever. It has thousands of speakers—even native speakers—and that's a major accomplishment as compared to the 900 or so other languages that have no speakers. – Arika Okrent
^Gabriela Zalewska (2010)."Zamenhof, Ludwik (1859–1917)".The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. Trans. by Anna Grojec.YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved19 December 2013.
^abKiselman, Christer (2008). "Tom II".Esperanto: Its Origins and Early History(PDF). Prace Komisji Spraw Europejskich PAU:Polish Academy of Learning. pp. 39–56. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved15 December 2014.What was his first language? He wrote in a letter in 1901 that his "parental language" (mother tongue) was Russian, but that at the time he was speaking more in Polish (Zamenhof 1929:523). However, all other evidence points to Yiddish as his mother tongue and first language. He was born in Białystok on December 3, 1859
^Keith Brown and Sarah Ogilvie,Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World (Elsevier, 2009:ISBN0-08-087774-5), p. 375.
^Vilnius, 1909; see Esperanto translation asPri jida gramatiko kaj reformo en la jida (On Yiddish grammar and reform in Yiddish) inHebreo el la geto: De cionismo al hilelismo (A Hebrew from the ghetto: From Zionism to Hillelism),Eldonejo Ludovikito, vol. 5, 1976
^Hoffmann, Frank W.; Bailey, William G. (1992).Mind & Society Fads. Haworth Press.ISBN1-56024-178-0.,p. 116Archived 17 July 2023 at theWayback Machine: "Between world wars, Esperanto fared worse and, sadly, became embroiled in political power moves. Adolf Hitler wrote inMein Kampf that the spread of Esperanto throughout Europe was a Jewish plot to break down national differences so that Jews could assume positions of authority.... After the Nazis' successful Blitzkrieg of Poland, the Warsaw Gestapo received orders to 'take care' of the Zamenhof family.... Zamenhof's son was shot... his two daughters were put in Treblinka death camp."
^Clauzade, G.; Roux, C.; Houmeau, J.-M. (1985).Likenoj de Okcidenta Europa. Ilustrita determinlibro. Bulletin de la Société Botanique du Centre-Ouest (in Esperanto). Vol. 7. Saint-Sulpice-de-Royan. p. 823.
