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Austria has been the home of Esperanto speakers for most of the language's history. Esperantists were persecuted by the Nazis during the annexation of Austria in the 1930s. The President of Austria from 1965 to 1974, Franz Jonas, was an Esperantist. The Esperanto Museum and Collection of Planned Languages is located in Vienna.
Esperanto spread to Austria early after its construction. Of the first thousand recorded Esperantists, 19 were located in Austria-Hungary. Only four Esperantists were recorded in the kingdom by the 1890s, though the number increased to 211 by 1904. [1] Hans Weinhengst was an early Esperanto novelist in Austria. [2] Austrian peace activist Alfred Hermann Fried also supported Esperanto, writing a German-Esperanto dictionary.[ citation needed ] The Esperanto Museum and Collection of Planned Languages was established in Vienna in 1927 at the behest of Felix Zamenhof, brother of Esperanto founder L. L. Zamenhof. [3]
In the 1930s, the Esperanto movement in Austria was disproportionately made up of the workers' movement. Esperanto groups at the time included the Austrian Workers Esperantist League, the Austrian Esperanto Association, and the Austrian Esperantist Federation. The Austrian Workers Esperantist League was banned along with other workers' groups following the Austrian Civil War in 1934. In 1936, the World Esperanto Congress met in Vienna. When Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, the Esperanto Museum was closed and the remaining Esperanto groups were disbanded. [4] Austrian Esperantists continued meetings in private homes, but at least one such meeting resulted in the arrest of everyone present. [5]
Austrian Esperantists such as Jenny Weleminsky and Eugen Wüster wrote translations between Esperanto and German in the mid-20th century.[ citation needed ] In 1953, the World Peace Esperantist Movement was established in Sankt Pölten. [6] President Franz Jonas was involved in the Esperanto community prior to taking office. [7] As president he delivered an address in Esperanto to the World Esperanto Congress in 1970.[ citation needed ]
Esperanto is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it is intended to be a universal second language for international communication, or "the international language". Zamenhof first described the language in Dr. Esperanto's International Language, which he published under the pseudonym Doktoro Esperanto. Early adopters of the language liked the name Esperanto and soon used it to describe his language. The word esperanto translates into English as "one who hopes".
Esperantujo or Esperantio is the community of speakers of the Esperanto language and their culture, as well as the places and institutions where the language is used. The term is used "as if it were a country."
L. L. Zamenhof developed Esperanto in the 1870s and '80s. Unua Libro, the first print discussion of the language, appeared in 1887. The number of Esperanto speakers have increased gradually since then, without much support from governments and international organizations. Its use has, in some instances, been outlawed or otherwise suppressed.
Lidia Zamenhof was a Jewish Polish writer, publisher, translator and the youngest daughter of Klara (Silbernik) and L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto. She was an active promoter of Esperanto as well as of Homaranismo, a form of religious humanism first defined by her father.
Edmond Privat was a Francophone Swiss Esperantist. A historian, university professor, author, journalist and peace activist, he was a graduate of the University of Geneva and a lecturer for the World Peace Foundation. His collective works consist of original dramas, poems, stories, textbooks and books about the Esperanto movement.
The International Esperanto League was for 11 years the largest and most important neutral Esperanto federation, reuniting in 1947 with the Universal Esperanto Association from which it had broken away in 1936.
The World Esperantist Vegetarian Association is a voluntary association of Esperanto-speaking vegetarians. Founded in 1908, the group's working language is Esperanto, and it is the oldest international organization of vegetarians that is currently active. TEVA published a journal, Vegetarano ("Vegetarian") from 1914 to 1932, revived in 2009 as Esperantista Vegetarano, and has also operated a spirited Internet mailing list through Yahoo! Groups since 2005.
Lev Ivanovich Zhirkov was a Soviet and Russian philologist, specializing in Persian and Caucasian languages, and Esperantist.
Helmi Dresen was an Estonian translator, poet, and Esperantist. She was the older sister of Hilda Dresen. She was shot by the Nazis.
Esperanto was variously endorsed and oppressed in the Soviet Union throughout its history. The language was permitted by the government in the 1920s, but its internationalist nature brought it under scrutiny in the 1930s and Joseph Stalin enforced measures against the Esperanto community, having Esperanto speakers imprisoned and killed as part of the Great Purge. The Esperanto community was restored in the Soviet Union following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953, but it did not achieve its earlier prominence.
Esperanto has been used in Hungary since its construction in the late-19th century. It saw notable use through the 20th century, though it was suppressed by Nazi and Communist governments in the 1940s and 1950s.
Esperanto was constructed in Poland by L. L. Zamenhof. It maintained a notable presence in Poland until the Occupation of Poland during World War II and the subsequent Communist rule resulted in the persecution of Esperantists.
Ernest Karlovich Drezen was a Soviet Esperantist and engineer. He was the leader of the Soviet Esperantist Union (SEU). Drezen was arrested and killed during the Great Purge in the 1930s.
Esperanto has been used in the Czech Republic since the 19th century. It was suppressed by the Nazi and Communist governments of the 20th century before being revived in 1969. The Czech Republic is home to the Esperanto Museum in Svitavy.
Esperanto has been used in Slovakia since the 19th century. The Slovak Esperanto movement was suppressed by Nazi and Communist regimes in the 20th century before being restored in 1969. Slovakia is home to the Summer Esperanto Study and the Conference on the Application of Esperanto in Science and Technology.
Esperanto is a minor language in Romania.
Albert Škarvan was a Slovak physician, writer, translator, and Esperantist.
Esperanto is a minor language in Bulgaria. It first arrived in Bulgaria in the late 19th-century. It was suppressed by the Nazi government in the 1940s and the Communist government in the 1950s.
Abram Antoni Kofman, also known as Abraham S. Kofman, was a Russian-Jewish accountant, and poet and translator in several constructed languages. From Odesa, Russian Empire, Kofman learned Esperanto in 1889 and was an early supporter of the language's adoption. He was one of the first Russian Jews to write poetry in Esperanto and has been described by several as a "pioneer". His work appeared in several Esperanto-language magazines and early anthologies, including the Fundamenta Krestomatio. He was the translator of several sections of the Hebrew Bible in both Esperanto and its daughter language, Ido. He was the first Ancient Greek–Esperanto translator, producing a rendition of parts of the Iliad starting in 1895.
