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The following Esperanto libraries and collections of works in the Esperanto language are worthy of note:
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."
The Universal Esperanto Association, also known as the World Esperanto Association, is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with 5,501 individual members in 121 countries and 9,215 through national associations in 214 countries. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated with UEA. Its current president is Prof. Duncan Charters. The magazine Esperanto is the main publication to inform UEA members about everything happening in the Esperanto community.
The Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB) is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance education in and about the international language Esperanto and to preserve and promote the culture and heritage of Esperanto for the educational benefit of the general public. The organisation was established in 1904.
Literature in the Esperanto language began before the first official publication in Esperanto in 1887: the language's creator, L. L. Zamenhof, translated poetry and prose into the language as he was developing it as a test of its completeness and expressiveness, and published several translations and a short original poem as an appendix to the first book on the language, Unua Libro. Other early speakers wrote poetry, stories, and essays in the language; Henri Vallienne was the first to write novels in Esperanto. The first female Esperanto novelist was Edith Alleyne Sinnotte with her book Lilio published in 1918. Except for a handful of poems, most of the literature from Esperanto's first two decades is now regarded as of historical interest only.
The Hector Hodler Library is one of the largest Esperanto libraries, with approximately 30,000 books in addition to periodicals, manuscripts, photos, music, and other collections. It occupies three rooms in the central office of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA) in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda is an independent worldwide cultural Esperanto association of a general left-wing orientation. Its headquarters are in Paris. According to Jacques Schram, chairman of the Executive Committee, the membership totalled 881 in 2003. In 2006 SAT had 724 members. In 2015-2016 there were 525.
The Austrian National Library is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of Vienna. Since 2005, some of the collections have been relocated within the Baroque structure of the Palais Mollard-Clary. Founded by the Habsburgs, the library was originally called the Imperial Court Library ; the change to the current name occurred in 1920, following the end of the Habsburg Monarchy and the proclamation of the Austrian Republic. The library complex includes four museums, as well as multiple special collections and archives.
The Esperanto Museum and Collection of Planned Languages, commonly known as the Esperanto Museum, is a museum for Esperanto and other constructed languages in Vienna, Austria. It was founded in 1927 by Hofrat Hugo Steiner and was incorporated into the Austrian National Library as an independent collection in 1928. Today, it is a museum, library, documentation center, and archive. It accommodates the largest collection of constructed languages in the world and a linguistic research library for language planning. Its catalogue is available online.
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.
Hector Hodler was a Swiss Esperantist who had a strong influence on the early Esperanto movement.
Raymond Schwartz was a French banker and Esperanto author who wrote many poems and novels in Esperanto, as well as skits which he directed for Parisian Esperanto cabarets.
Rüdiger Eichholz, was a Canadian physicist and Esperantist and a member of the Esperanto Academy. He is best known for publishing the "Esperanto picture dictionary" (1988) and a massive anthology co-edited with his wife, Esperanto in the Modern World (1982).
Montagu Christie Butler was a British academic, librarian, lexicographer, musician, and Esperantist. A winner of several prizes at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he was a harpist and a versatile music teacher skilled in playing various musical instruments, as well as a teacher of voice and of musical composition.
Victor Sadler (1937–2020) was a British-born Dutch Esperantist.
Amerika Esperantisto was a North American Esperanto-language monthly publication founded in January 1907 as Amerika Esperantista Revuo. It was originally published by the American Esperanto Association, a national association formed by Boston Esperantists in March 1905.
The Center for Research and Documentation on World Language Problems (CRD) is an international research foundation created to study, document, and educate people about language problems, intercultural communication and international relations throughout the world.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Esperanto: