René de Saussure | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of de Saussure, before 1909 | |
| Born | (1868-03-17)17 March 1868 Geneva, Switzerland |
| Died | 2 December 1943(1943-12-02) (aged 75) Bern, Switzerland |
| Occupation(s) | Esperantist, professional mathematician |
| Known for | Inventor ofEsperanto II |
| Relatives | Ferdinand de Saussure (brother) |
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René de Saussure (17 March 1868 – 2 December 1943) was a SwissEsperantist and professional mathematician who composed important works about the linguistics ofEsperanto andinterlinguistics.
He was born inGeneva, Switzerland. René's father was the scientistHenri Louis Frédéric de Saussure. His brothers were linguistFerdinand de Saussure and SinologistLéopold de Saussure.
He defended a doctoral thesis on a subject in geometry at theJohns Hopkins University in 1895 and until 1899 he was professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and later in Geneva and Bern.
His main work is an analysis of the logic of word construction in Esperanto,Fundamentaj reguloj de la vortteorio en Esperanto ("Fundamental rules of word theory in Esperanto"), defending the language against severalIdist critiques. He developed the concept ofneceso kaj sufiĉo ("necessity and sufficience") by which he opposed the criticism ofLouis Couturat that Esperanto lacksrecursion.[1]
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In 1907, de Saussure proposed the international currencyspesmilo (₷). It was used by theĈekbanko esperantista and other British and Swiss banks until the First World War.
Beginning in 1919, de Saussure proposed a series of Esperanto reforms, and in 1925, he renounced Esperanto in favor of his artificial languageEsperanto II. He later became a consultant for theInternational Auxiliary Language Association, the linguistic research body that standardized and presentedInterlingua.[2] He died on 2 December 1943 inBern, Switzerland.
A new silver Esperanto coin for 100Steloj was struck in 2018 for the 150th birthday of René de Saussure.
