Andreo Cseh (born András Cseh; 12 September 1895 – 9 March 1979) was a Hungarian-Dutch Roman Catholic priest and

Esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

best known for developing the Cseh method, a direct method of teaching

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

that emphasizes oral practice and avoids translation.

Biography

Cseh was born on 12 September 1895 in Marosludas, then part of the

Kingdom of Hungary The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from 1000 to 1946 and was a key part of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526-1918. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the Coro ...

within

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

. He became an Esperantist in 1910 and was ordained as a Catholic priest in 1919. In 1920, while in

Sibiu Sibiu ( , , , Hungarian: ''Nagyszeben'', , Transylvanian Saxon: ''Härmeschtat'' or ''Hermestatt'') is a city in central Romania, situated in the historical region of Transylvania. Located some north-west of Bucharest, the city straddles th ...

, he developed the Cseh method, a simplified, conversation-based approach to learning Esperanto. Due to its success, he was invited to

Târgu Mureș Târgu Mureș (, ; ; German language, German: ''Neumarkt am Mieresch'') is the seat of Mureș County in the historical region of Transylvania, Romania. It is the list of cities and towns in Romania, 16th-largest city in Romania, with 116,033 ...

and later to

Cluj Cluj-Napoca ( ; ), or simply Cluj ( , ), is a city in northwestern Romania. It is the second-most populous city in the country and the seat of Cluj County. Geographically, it is roughly equidistant from Bucharest (), Budapest () and Belgrade ( ...

, where he organized Esperanto courses and helped revitalize the Romanian Esperanto movement. In 1922, he moved to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, where he co-founded the

Romanian Esperanto Center Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

() with Henriko Fischer-Galați. Cseh became a chief delegate to the

World Esperanto Association The Universal Esperanto Association (, UEA), 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 (i ...

in 1921. In 1924, he received permission from his bishop to dedicate himself entirely to promoting Esperanto. He played a role in organizing several

Esperanto World Congress The World Esperanto Congress (, UK) is an annual Esperanto convention. It has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run for 119 years. The congresses have been held since August 5, 1905, every ye ...

es, including those in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

(1925), Danzig (1927), and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(1929). His method gained popularity, and he was invited to teach across Europe, including in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, where he led courses in

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and at the invitation of local authorities. By 1930, Cseh had settled in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, where he co-founded the International Esperanto Institute () with Julia Isbrücker and her husband. This led to conflicts with the

, resulting in his exclusion from the

1931 World Congress Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. Despite this, his influence in Esperanto education remained strong. In 1932, Cseh founded and became the editor-in-chief of (, an Esperanto magazine that was published until 1970. During the

German occupation of the Netherlands Despite Dutch neutrality, Nazi Germany German invasion of the Netherlands, invaded the Netherlands on 10 May 1940 as part of ''Fall Gelb'' (Case Yellow). On 15 May 1940, one day after the Rotterdam Blitz, bombing of Rotterdam, the Dutch forces ...

, he and Isbrücker held a secret meeting in 1942 to establish , a

World Federalist World federalism or global federalism is a political ideology advocating a democratic, federal world government. A world federation would have authority on issues of global reach, while the members of such a federation would retain authority ove ...

organization advocating for international cooperation. Cseh remained active in Esperanto education and advocacy throughout his life. He died on 9 March 1979 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

, Netherlands. His teaching method continues to be used in Esperanto instruction today.

Revocation and reinstatement of priesthood

While teaching Esperanto in the Netherlands, Cseh encountered opposition from J.D.J. Aengenent, the bishop of Haarlem, who objected to his courses being open to both Catholics and Protestants. Due to these concerns, Aengenent exercised his

ecclesiastical authority Ecclesiastical government, ecclesiastical hierarchy, or ecclesiocracy may refer to: * Theocracy, a form of religious State government * Hierocracy (medieval), papal temporal supremacy over the State * Ecclesiastical polity, the government of a Chr ...

to prohibit Cseh from continuing his work in the diocese. However, due to

language barriers A language barrier is a figurative phrase used primarily to refer to linguistic barriers to communication, i.e. the difficulties in communication experienced by people or groups originally speaking different languages (or different dialects in ...

, Cseh misunderstood the order and continued teaching, leading to the revocation of his priesthood. Decades later, in 1978, efforts were made to restore his status. With the support of local clergy, including Father Genemans, and the approval of Bishop Zwartkruis, Cseh's priesthood was reinstated on 6 January 1978.ĜOJIGA HONORADO DE LA GRANDA ESPERANTO-PIONIRO ANDREO CSEH
(from "Universala Ligo" 1/1978)

Cseh method

The Cseh method consists of: # Not using a textbook # Not using the students' native language, but instead explaining new words using words that have already been learned # Having the students answer in unison # Using conversation about current events rather than artificial examples # Thoroughly using humor and jokes # Allowing the students to discover the rules of the language and construct the grammatical system themselves

Literature about Cseh and his method

* ''Esperanto en perspektivo'' ("Esperanto in perspective"), London, Rotterdam, 1974 * '' Enciklopedio de Esperanto'' ("Encyclopedia of Esperanto"), Budapest, 1933 * ''Vortoj de Andreo Cseh'' ("Words of Andreo Cseh"), Artur E. Iltis, Saarbrücken, 1984 / , Hague, 2003 * ''Metodologio de lingvostudado kaj parolproprigo'' ("Methodology of language study and proper pronunciation"), D-ro I. Szerdahelyi, Budapest, 1975 * ''Memorlibro omaĝe al Andreo Cseh'' ("Memorial book in homage to Andreo Cseh"), edited with an attached text by Katalin Smidéliusz, Szombathely, 1995 * ''Vortoj de Andreo Cseh'' ("Words of Andreo Cseh"), , Internacia Esperanto-Instituto, 2003 * ''Vivo de Andreo Cseh'' ("Life of Andreo Cseh"), Ed Borsboom, Internacia Esperanto-Instituto, 2003

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cseh, Andreo 1895 births 1979 deaths People from Luduș Dutch Esperantists Hungarian Esperantists 20th-century Dutch Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Hungarian Roman Catholic priests Esperanto educators