An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communic ...

. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first

World Esperanto Congress The World Esperanto Congress ( eo, Universala Kongreso de Esperanto, UK) is an annual Esperanto convention. It has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run for 113 years. The congresses have be ...

in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for any purpose.

Lists of famous Esperantists

Important Esperantists

Muztar Abbasi Allama Muztar Abbasi (1931 – 26 February 2004) was a Pakistani Muslim scholar who belonged to the Dhund Abbasi tribe of Murree Hills in the Rawalpindi District. He was a supporter of the Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most wi ...

, Pakistani scholar, patron in chief of PakEsA, translated the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , si ...

and many other works into Esperanto * William Auld, eminent Scottish Esperanto poet and nominee for the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

Julio Baghy Julio Baghy (13 January 1891, Szeged – 18 March 1967, Budapest; in Hungarian Baghy Gyula) was a Hungarian actor and one of the leading authors of the Esperanto movement. He is the author of several famous novels but it is particularly in the ...

, poet, member of the Academy of Esperanto and "Dad" ("Paĉjo") of the Esperanto movement *

Henri Barbusse Henri Barbusse (; 17 May 1873 – 30 August 1935) was a French novelist and a member of the French Communist Party. He was a lifelong friend of Albert Einstein. Life The son of a French father and an English mother, Barbusse was born in Asnièr ...

, French writer, honorary president of the first congress of the

Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda (SAT; en, World Anational Association) 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 Executiv ...

Kazimierz Bein Kazimierz Bein (1872 – June 15, 1959), often referred to by his pseudonym Kabe, was a Polish ophthalmologist, the founder and sometime director of the Warsaw Ophthalmic Institute (''Warszawski Instytut Oftalmiczny''). He was also, for a ...

, "Kabe", prominent Esperanto activist and writer who suddenly left the Esperanto movement * Émile Boirac, French writer and first president of the Esperanto language committee (later the Academy of Esperanto) *

Antoni Grabowski Antoni Grabowski (11 June 1857 – 4 July 1921)Julius Glück, ''El la klasika periodo de Esperanto (Grabowski kaj Kabe)'', en Muusses Esperanto Biblioteko No. 5, Purmerend, 1937. p. 6. was a Polish chemical engineer, and an activist of the early ...

, Polish

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

, the father of Esperanto poetry * Lou Harrison, American composer of Esperanto music and translator of

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

texts into Esperanto *

Julia Isbrücker Julia Catharina Isbrücker-Dirksen (22 September 1887 - 14 January 1971) was a Dutch esperantist, Honorary Member of the Universal Esperanto Association (UEA), member of the International Central Committee and of the examination committee, member ...

, Dutch Esperantist * Boris Kolker, Esperantist scholar and key member of the Academy of Esperanto *

Georges Lagrange Georges Lagrange (; August 31, 1928 in Gagny, Seine-Saint-Denis – April 30, 2004 in Poitiers) was a French Esperantist writer and member of the Academy of Esperanto. He translated several theater pieces from French to Esperanto, acted in some of ...

, French Esperantist writer *

John Edgar McFadyen John Edgar McFadyen B. A. (Oxon), M. A., D. D. (17 July 1870 – 1933) a Scottish theologian, was professor of language, literature and Old Testament theology in the University of Glasgow. He was born in Glasgow and died in 1933. He produced tra ...

, Scottish theologist and linguist *

Frederic Pujulà i Vallés Frederic may refer to: Places United States * Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County * Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County ** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community Other uses * Frederic (band), a Japanes ...

, pioneer of Esperanto in Spain * Sándor Szathmári, leading figure of Esperanto literature * L. L. Zamenhof, Polish

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a med ...

, inventor of Esperanto

Politicians

* Kazimierz Badowski, member of the Communist Party of Poland, promoted Esperanto as part of

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...

movement * Richard Bartholdt, U.S. Representative from Missouri * Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, one of the architects of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference th ...

, awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Chemistry, Physics, Physiolo ...

* Parley Parker Christensen, Utah and California politician *

Willem Drees Willem () is a Dutch and West FrisianRienk de Haan, ''Fryske Foarnammen'', Leeuwarden, 2002 (Friese Pers Boekerij), , p. 158. masculine given name. The name is Germanic, and can be seen as the Dutch equivalent of the name William in English, ...

, Dutch politician,

Prime Minister of the Netherlands The prime minister of the Netherlands ( nl, Minister-president van Nederland) is the head of the executive branch of the Government of the Netherlands. Although the monarch is the ''de jure'' head of government, the prime minister ''de facto'' ...

(1948–1958) * Heinz Fischer, President of the Republic of Austria * Małgorzata Handzlik, Polish member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...

Ho Chi Minh (: ; born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), commonly known as (' Uncle Hồ'), also known as ('President Hồ'), (' Old father of the people') and by other aliases, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and statesman. He served as P ...

, president of North Vietnam *

Jean Jaurès Auguste Marie Joseph Jean Léon Jaurès (3 September 185931 July 1914), commonly referred to as Jean Jaurès (; oc, Joan Jaurés ), was a French Socialist leader. Initially a Moderate Republican, he later became one of the first social dem ...

, French politician. He proposed to the International Socialist Congress at Stuttgart in 1907 the use of Esperanto for the information diffused by the Brussels Office of the organization. *

Franz Jonas Franz Josef Jonas (4 October 1899 – 24 April 1974) was an Austrian politician who served as the President of Austria between 1965 and 1974. He was a typesetter by profession and a member of the Social Democratic Party of Austria. After Wor ...

, President of the Republic of Austria, Secretary of the Austrian Laborist Esperantist League and founder of ''Internacio de Socialistaj Esperantistoj'' ("International of Socialist Esperantists") *

Graham Steele Graham J. Steele (July 8, 1964, Winnipeg, Manitoba) is a Canadian lawyer, author, and former politician, having represented the constituency of Halifax Fairview in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2001-2013 for the Nova Scotia New Democra ...

, Canadian lawyer, author, and former politician *

Josip Broz Tito Josip Broz ( sh-Cyrl, Јосип Броз, ; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980), commonly known as Tito (; sh-Cyrl, Тито, links=no, ), was a Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman, serving in various positions from 1943 until his death ...

, head of state of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

Writers

* Nadija Hordijenko Andrianova, Ukrainian writer and translator * Maria Angelova, Bulgarian poet * Ba Jin, prolific Chinese novelist and chairman of Chinese Writer Association *

, French writer, and honorary president of the first congress of the ''Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda'' * Louis de Beaufront, Esperantist writer * Gerrit Berveling, Dutch Esperantist poet, translator and editor of the Esperanto literary review, ''Fonto'' *

Marjorie Boulton Marjorie Boulton (7 May 1924 – 30 August 2017) was a British author and poet writing in both English and Esperanto. Biography Marjorie Boulton studied English at Somerville College, Oxford where she was taught by C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tol ...

, British writer and poet in English and Esperanto; researcher and writer * Jorge Camacho, Spanish Esperantist writer * Vasili Eroshenko, Russian writer, Esperantist, linguist, and teacher *

Petr Ginz Petr Ginz (1 February 1928 – 28 September 1944) was a Czechoslovak boy of partial Jewish background who was deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp (known as Terezín, in Czech) during the Holocaust. He was murdered at the age of si ...

, native Esperanto speaking boy who wrote an Esperanto-Czech dictionary but later died in a concentration camp at age 16. His drawing of the Moon was carried aboard . His diary appears in Czech, Spanish, Catalan and Esperanto, and was recently published in English. * Don Harlow, American Esperantist writer and webmaster of the United States Esperanto web-site. *

Hector Hodler Hector Hodler (1 October 1887, in Geneva – 31 March 1920, in Leysin, Switzerland) was a Swiss Esperantist who had a strong influence on the early Esperanto movement. Hodler was a son of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler, who after a period of ...

, Swiss journalist, translator, organizer, and philanthropist * Hans Jakob, Swiss writer *

Kálmán Kalocsay Kálmán Kalocsay (; 6 October 1891 in Abaújszántó – 27 February 1976) was a Hungarian Esperantist poet, translator and editor who considerably influenced Esperanto culture, both in its literature and in the language itself, through h ...

, Hungarian surgeon, poet, translator, and editor * Lena Karpunina, Tajik Esperantist short story writer * Ikki Kita, Japanese fascist author, intellectual and political philosopher *

, French Esperanto writer, member of Academy of Esperanto *

Nikolai Vladimirovich Nekrasov Nikolai Vladimirovich Nekrasov (russian: Николай Владимирович Некрасов) (18 December 1900 – 4 October 1938) was a Soviet Esperanto writer, translator, and critic. Biography Nekrasov was born in Moscow. A journalist, ...

, Esperantist writer and translator of the Soviet Union * Mauro Nervi, Italian poet in the Esperanto language *

Edmond Privat Edmond Privat (17 August 1889 – 28 August 1962) was a Francophone Swiss people, 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 Worl ...

, Swiss author, journalist, university professor, and movement activist * João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian novelist, short story writer and diplomat *

Cezaro Rossetti Cezaro Rossetti (1901 –8 May 1950) was a Scottish Esperanto writer. Of Italian-Swiss derivation, he was born in Glasgow and lived in Britain. Together with his younger brother, Reto Rossetti, he learned Esperanto in 1928. He studied in Bomba ...

, Scottish Esperantist writer * Lazër Shantoja, Albanian catholic saint, writer and translator *

René de Saussure René de Saussure (17 March 1868 – 2 December 1943) was a Swiss Esperantist and professional mathematician (he defended a doctoral thesis on a subject in geometry at the Johns Hopkins University in 1895 and until 1899 he was professor at the Ca ...

, Swiss writer and activist * Teodoro Schwartz, Hungarian Jewish doctor, lawyer, author and editor *

William Thomas Stead William Thomas Stead (5 July 184915 April 1912) was a British newspaper editor who, as a pioneer of investigative journalism, became a controversial figure of the Victorian era. Stead published a series of hugely influential campaigns whilst e ...

, well-known philanthropist, journalist and pacifist who was aboard the RMS ''Titanic'' when it sank. * Þórbergur Þórðarson (Thorbergur Thortharson), Icelandic writer and Esperantist * J. R. R. Tolkien. *

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

, Russian writer and philosopher, who claimed he learned how to write Esperanto after two hours of study *

Julian Tuwim Julian Tuwim (13 September 1894 – 27 December 1953), known also under the pseudonym "Oldlen" as a lyricist, was a Polish poet, born in Łódź, then part of the Russian Partition. He was educated in Łódź and in Warsaw where he studied law ...

, Polish poet and translator. * Vladimir Varankin, Russian writer *

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the '' Voyages extra ...

, French author, incorporated Esperanto into his last unfinished work *

Qian Xuantong Qian Xuantong (1887—January 17, 1939) was a Chinese linguist and writer. He was a professor of literature at National Peking University, and along with Gu Jiegang, one of the leaders of the Doubting Antiquity School. Biography Born in Huzhou ...

, Chinese writer and linguist who pushed for the abolition of Classical Chinese, and supported the substitution of Spoken Chinese with Esperanto *

Kenji Miyazawa was a Japanese novelist and poet of children's literature from Hanamaki, Iwate, in the late Taishō and early Shōwa periods. He was also known as an agricultural science teacher, a vegetarian, cellist, devout Buddhist, and utopian social act ...

, Japanese poet and author of

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

. Author of

Night on the Galactic Railroad , sometimes translated as ''Milky Way Railroad'', ''Night Train to the Stars'' or ''Fantasy Railroad in the Stars'', is a classic Japanese fantasy novel by Kenji Miyazawa written around 1927. The nine-chapter novel was posthumously published in 1 ...

(銀河鉄道の夜).

Scientists

Daniel Bovet Daniel Bovet (23 March 1907 – 8 April 1992) was a Swiss-born Italian pharmacologist who won the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of drugs that block the actions of specific neurotransmitters. He is best known for hi ...

, Italian pharmacologist and winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, learned Esperanto as a first language *

Sidney S. Culbert Sidney Spence Culbert (May 14, 1913 – October 28, 2003) was a linguist, psychologist and Esperantist. Biography Born in Miles City, Montana, Culbert moved to Tacoma, Washington with his family in 1923 and lived in Tacoma and Seattle for ...

, American linguist and psychologist * Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian cosmonaut *

Louis Lumière Louis Jean Lumière (5 October 1864 Besançon – 6 June 1948, Bandol) was a French engineer and industrialist who played a key role in the development of photography and cinema. Early life and education Lumière was one of four children ...

, French inventor of cinema, said: "The use of Esperanto could have one of the happiest consequences in its effects on international relations and the establishment of peace." * Fran Novljan, contributed to the promotion of Esperanto in

. * Wilhelm Ostwald, German

Nobel laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make o ...

for his seminal work in chemical catalysis * Mark Pallen, British microbiologist * Claude Piron, Esperantist, psychologist, and linguist, translator for the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

Reinhard Selten Reinhard Justus Reginald Selten (; 5 October 1930 – 23 August 2016) was a German economist, who won the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (shared with John Harsanyi and John Nash). He is also well known for his work in bou ...

, German economist and winner of the 1994 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics because of his work on game theory. He has authored two books in Esperanto on that subject. * Leonardo Torres y Quevedo, Spanish civil engineer and mathematician. *

Yrjö Väisälä Yrjö Väisälä (; 6 September 1891 – 21 July 1971) was a Finnish astronomer and physicist. His main contributions were in the field of optics. He was also active in geodetics, astronomy and optical metrology. He had an affectionate ni ...

, Finnish astronomer, discovered asteroids 1421 Esperanto and 1462 Zamenhof * John C. Wells, British phonetician and Esperanto teacher * Vladimir Köppen, Russian geographer of German descent *

Marcel Minnaert Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert (12 February 1893 – 26 October 1970) was a Dutch astronomer of Belgian origin. He was born in Bruges and died in Utrecht. He is notable for his contributions to astronomy and physics and for a popular book on me ...

, Belgian astronomer who worked in Utrecht * Seok Joo-myung, Korean ecologist who studied and identified native

butterflies Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

of Korea * Claude Roux, French lichenologist and mycologist

Others

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...

adherents, many of whom have been involved with Esperanto (see Baháʼí Faith and auxiliary language).

Lidia Zamenhof Lidia Zamenhof ( eo, Lidja Zamenhofo; 29 January 1904–1942) was a 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 w ...

was a Baháʼí. Several leading Baháʼís have spoken Esperanto, most notably the Son of Bahá'u'lláh, `Abdu'l-Bahá (see John Esslemont). *

Rudolf Carnap Rudolf Carnap (; ; 18 May 1891 – 14 September 1970) was a German-language philosopher who was active in Europe before 1935 and in the United States thereafter. He was a major member of the Vienna Circle and an advocate of logical positivism. ...

, German-born philosopher. *

Onisaburo Deguchi , born Ueda Kisaburō 上田喜三郎 (1871–1948), is considered one of the two spiritual leaders of the Ōmoto religious movement in Japan. History Onisaburo had studied Honda Chikaatsu's "Spirit Studies" (Honda Reigaku), he also learned ...

, one of the chief figures of the

Oomoto ''Chōseiden'' in Ayabe , also known as , is a religion founded in 1892 by Deguchi Nao (1836–1918), often categorised as a new Japanese religion originated from Shinto. The spiritual leaders of the movement have always been women within t ...

religious movement in Japan and president of the ''Universala Homama Asocio'' ("Universal Human-love Association") * Alfred Fried, recipient of a

and author of a textbook on Esperanto *

Ebenezer Howard Sir Ebenezer Howard (29 January 1850 – 1 May 1928) was an English urban planner and founder of the garden city movement, known for his publication ''To-Morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform'' (1898), the description of a utopian city in whic ...

, known for his ''

Garden Cities of To-morrow ''Garden Cities of To-morrow'' is a book by the British urban planner Ebenezer Howard. When it was published in 1898, the book was titled ''To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform''. In 1902 it was reprinted as ''Garden Cities of To-Morrow''. ...

'' (1898), the description of a

utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. *

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, gave several speeches using Esperanto during his careerWho Supports Esperanto?
* Franko Luin, Swedish type designer of Slovene nationality *

John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor (28 January 1825 – 1 December 1910) was an English classical scholar, writer and vegetarianism activist. Life Mayor was born at Baddegama, British Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) the son of Rev. John Major and Charlotte ...

, English classical scholar, gave a historic speech against Esperanto reformists at the World Congress of Esperanto held at Cambridge * Alexander Nedoshivin, Russian tax specialist, one of the founders of the Esperanto Society at Kaunas, Lithuania * William Main Page, Secretary of Edinburgh Esperanto Society, editor and author *

László Polgár László Polgár (born 11 May 1946) is a Hungarian chess teacher and educational psychologist. He is the father of the famous Polgár sisters: Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit, whom he raised to be chess prodigies, with Judit and Zsuzsa becoming ...

, Hungarian chess teacher * Susan Polgar, Hungarian-American chess grandmaster, taught Esperanto by her father László *

George Soros George Soros ( name written in eastern order), (born György Schwartz, August 12, 1930) is a Hungarian-American businessman and philanthropist. , he had a net worth of US$8.6 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated mo ...

, Hungarian-American billionaire and son of Esperantist parents. ("Soros", a name selected by his father to avoid persecution, means "will soar" in Esperanto.) * Daniel Tammet, British autistic savant. He has stated Esperanto is one of the ten languages he speaks. *

Antoon Jozef Witteryck Antoon-Jozef Witteryck (6 June 1865 in Oostkamp – 3 July 1934 in Bruges) was a publisher and instructor from Belgium, one of the first Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. A ...

, Belgian publisher and instructor

Sources

* This page has been translated from the article :fr:Espérantiste on the

French Wikipedia The French Wikipedia (french: Wikipédia en français) is the French-language edition of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia. This edition was started on 23 March 2001, two months after the official creation of Wikipedia. It has articl ...

, accessed on June 13, 2006. * Information on

from the Esperanto Vikipedio article.

References

External links

''100 eminentaj esperantistoj''
"100 eminent Esperantists" (eo) {{Authority control Esperanto Lists of people by language