Esperanto is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist 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 5501 individual members in 121 countries and 9215 through national associations and in official relations with the United Nations. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated with UEA. Its current president is the professor Duncan Charters. The magazine Esperanto is the main organ used by UEA to inform its members about everything happening in the Esperanto community.
The International Youth Congress is the largest annual meeting of young Esperantists in the world. The participants come from all over the world for one week, and they usually number around 300, although there has been a congress with more than 1000 attendees before. The congress takes place in a different country every year and is organized by the World Esperanto Youth Organization, the youth wing of the Universal Esperanto Association. Both the IJK and the World Esperanto Congress take place each summer, usually in consecutive weeks but rarely in the same country.
Esperanto II or Esperanto 2 was a reform of Esperanto proposed by René de Saussure in 1937, the last of a long series of such proposals beginning with a 1907 response to Ido with a project called Lingwo Internaciona, later called Antido 1. Esperanto II was one of several languages investigated by the International Auxiliary Language Association, the linguistic research body that eventually standardized and presented Interlingua de IALA.
Nikolai Vladimirovich Nekrasov was a Soviet Esperanto writer, translator, and critic.
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.
Michel Duc Goninaz was a French Esperantist known worldwide for his 2002 revision of La Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto.
Einar Dahl was a Swedish social democratic politician, temperance man, Esperantist and author.
Petro Evstaf'evic Stojan was a Russian esperantist, bibliographer and lexicographer and a member of the Esperanto Language Committee from 1914.
Lakshmiswar Sinha was an Indian Esperantist and handicrafts teacher in Shantiniketan, Bengal. He was a disciple and friend of Tagore.
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.
Medicina Internacia Revuo is the official organ of Universala Medicina Esperanto Asocio, an organization that gathers physicians, pharmacists, and other medical professionals who have a working knowledge of Esperanto. The twice-yearly journal publishes articles that have undergone peer review and that are written in various languages, including English and Polish; abstracts are provided in English and Esperanto. The journal publishes broadly within the medical sciences, has an internationally renowned board of editors, and is included in the Index Copernicus database. The journal is available gold open access, but no author fees are charged.
Andreo Cseh was a Hungarian-Dutch Roman Catholic priest and Esperantist known for inventing the Cseh method of Esperanto instruction.
The Iranian Esperanto Association, founded in 1996, is the national association of the World Esperanto Association in Iran.
The Esperanto workers movement has the goal of taking practical advantage of the international language Esperanto for advancing the goals of the labour movement, especially the fight against unrestrained capitalism. It is not only a political movement in the strict sense but also a cultural and educational one. Currently the principal Esperanto associations active in the Esperanto workers movement at the global level are the Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda and the Internacia Komunista Esperantista Kolektivo, and in a wider sense, the Monda Asembleo Socia.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Esperanto:
Anarchism and Esperanto are strongly linked because of their common ideals of social justice and equality. During the early Esperanto movement, anarchists enthusiastically publicized the language, and the two movements have much common history.
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.
