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

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 ...

. 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 any purpose.

List

Important Esperantists

* Muztar Abbasi, Pakistani scholar, patron in chief of PakEsA, translated the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

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

Nobel Prize in Literature The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...

* Julio Baghy, poet, member of the Akademio de Esperanto and "Dad" ("Paĉjo") of the Esperanto movement * Henri Barbusse, French writer, honorary president of the first congress of the Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda * Kazimierz Bein, "Kabe", prominent Esperanto activist and writer who suddenly left the Esperanto movement without explanation * Émile Boirac, French writer and first president of the Esperanto language committee (later the Akademio de Esperanto) * Antoni Grabowski, Polish

chemical engineer A chemical engineer is a professional equipped with the knowledge of chemistry and other basic sciences who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of Product (chemistry), products and deals with ...

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

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

texts into Esperanto * Julia Isbrücker, Dutch Esperantist * Boris Kolker, Esperantist scholar and key member of the Akademio de Esperanto * Georges Lagrange, French Esperantist writer * Eugène Lanti, French Esperantist, founder of Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda * John Edgar McFadyen, Scottish theologist and linguist * Frederic Pujulà i Vallès, pioneer of Esperanto in Spain * Louisa Frederica Adela Schafer, English Esperanto translator of hymns and languages teacher * Sándor Szathmári, leading figure of Esperanto literature * Anna Tuschinski, prominent Esperantist in the

Free City of Danzig The Free City of Danzig (; ) was a city-state under the protection and oversight of the League of Nations between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) and nearly 200 other small localities in the surrou ...

; "Mother of Esperanto" * Barry Friedman, well-known Esperanto-language author and translator * L. L. Zamenhof, Polish

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

, inventor of Esperanto

Politicians

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union The General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. was the Party leader, leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). From 1924 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union, country's dissoluti ...

, was said to have studied Esperanto by

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

, though he later killed many Esperantists * Kazimierz Badowski, member of the Communist Party of Poland, promoted Esperanto as part of the

Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...

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 (LN or LoN; , SdN) 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 (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

, awarded the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

* Parley P. Christensen, Utah and California politician *

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (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 two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

Ho Chi Minh (born ; 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), colloquially known as Uncle Ho () among other aliases and sobriquets, was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who served as the founder and first President of Vietnam, president of the ...

, President of North Vietnam * Jean Jaurès, 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, 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, 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 ( ; , ), was a Yugoslavia, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and politician who served in various positions of national leadership from 1943 unti ...

, head of state of

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovaks, Slovak statesman who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czech ...

, head of state of

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

. He grew up on a utopian and Esperantist cooperative called Interhelpo.

Writers

* Anna Löwenstein, British Esperantist, writer, teacher * Nadija Hordijenko Andrianova, Ukrainian writer and translator * Maria Angelova, Bulgarian poet * Ba Jin, prolific Chinese novelist and chairman of Chinese Writer Association * Jane Baird, Scottish educator and one of the three compilers of the ''Edinburgh Esperanto Pocket Dictionary'' * Henri Barbusse, 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, British writer and poet in English and Esperanto; researcher and writer * Louise Briggs, translator of Shakespeare works and children's songs into Esperanto and teacher * Jorge Camacho, Spanish Esperantist writer * Vasili Eroshenko, Russian writer, Esperantist, linguist, and teacher * Petr Ginz, 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. * Harry Harrison, American science fiction author and honorary president of the Esperanto Association of Ireland. * Hector Hodler, Swiss journalist, translator, organizer, and philanthropist * Hans Jakob, Swiss writer * Kálmán Kalocsay, Hungarian surgeon, poet, translator, and editor * Lena Karpunina, Tajik Esperantist short story writer * Ikki Kita, Japanese fascist author, intellectual and political philosopher * Georges Lagrange, French Esperanto writer, member of Academy of Esperanto * Ellen Kate Limouzin, music hall performer, suffragette and writer, aunt of

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

, member of Sennacieca Asocio Tutmonda * Nikolai Vladimirovich Nekrasov, Esperantist writer and translator of the Soviet Union * Mauro Nervi, Italian poet in the Esperanto language * Edmond Privat, Swiss author, journalist, university professor, and movement activist * João Guimarães Rosa, Brazilian novelist, short story writer and diplomat * Cezaro Rossetti, Scottish Esperantist writer * Magda Šaturová, Slovak translator who authored multiple Esperanto-Slovak dictionaries. * Lazër Shantoja, Albanian catholic saint, writer and translator * René de Saussure, Swiss writer and activist * Tibor Sekelj, Yugoslav-Hungarian author, explorer and polyglot, member of Academy of Esperanto * Tivadar Soros, Hungarian Jewish doctor, lawyer, author and editor * W. T. Stead, well-known philanthropist, journalist and pacifist who was aboard the '' Titanic'' when it sank. * Þórbergur Þórðarson (Thorbergur Thortharson), Icelandic writer and Esperantist *

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

. *

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

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

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

The Barsac Mission ''The Barsac Mission'' () is a novel attributed to Jules Verne and written (with inspiration from two unfinished Verne manuscripts) by his son Michel Verne. First serialized in 1914, it was published in book form by Hachette in 1919. An English ...

''. * Halina Weinstein, Polish Esperanto teacher and poet, murdered by Nazis * Qian Xuantong, Chinese writer and linguist who pushed for the abolition of Classical Chinese, and supported the substitution of Spoken Chinese with Esperanto * Kenji Miyazawa, 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. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

. Author of '' Night on the Galactic Railroad'' (銀河鉄道の夜).

Scientists

* Daniel Bovet, Italian pharmacologist and winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, learned Esperanto as a first language * Sidney S. Culbert, American linguist and psychologist * Isaj Dratwer, Polish-Jewish bacteriologist and former president of the Esperanto League of Israel * Bertalan Farkas, Hungarian cosmonaut * Louis Lumière, 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 (, ) 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 outstanding contributions in th ...

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 the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

* Reinhard Selten, 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 Quevedo Leonardo Torres Quevedo (; 28 December 1852 – 18 December 1936) was a Spanish civil engineer, mathematician and inventor, known for his numerous engineering innovations, including Aerial tramway, aerial trams, airships, catamarans, and remote ...

, Spanish engineer, mathematician and inventor. * Yrjö Väisälä, Finnish astronomer, discovered asteroids 1421 Esperanto and 1462 Zamenhof *

John C. Wells John Christopher Wells (born 11 March 1939) is a British phonetician and Esperantist. Wells is a professor emeritus at University College London, where until his retirement in 2006 he held the departmental chair in phonetics. He is known for ...

, British phonetician and Esperanto teacher * Wladimir Köppen, Russian geographer of German descent *

Marcel Minnaert Marcel Gilles Jozef Minnaert (12 February 1893 – 26 October 1970) was a Belgian-Dutch astronomer. 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 meteorologic ...

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

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

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 Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

adherents, many of whom have been involved with Esperanto (see

Baháʼí Faith and auxiliary language The Baháʼí Faith teaches that the world should adopt an international auxiliary language, which people would use in addition to their mother tongue. The aim of this teaching is to improve communication and foster unity among peoples and natio ...

). Lidia Zamenhof was a Baháʼí. Several leading Baháʼís have spoken Esperanto, most notably the Son of

Baháʼu'lláh Baháʼu'lláh (, born Ḥusayn-ʻAlí; 12 November 1817 – 29 May 1892) was an Iranian religious leader who founded the Baháʼí Faith. He was born to an aristocratic family in Iran and was exiled due to his adherence to the messianic Báb ...

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbdu'l-Bahá (; Persian: , ;, 23 May 1844 – 28 November 1921), born ʻAbbás (, ), was the eldest son of Baháʼu'lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, who designated him to be his successor and head of the Baháʼí Faith from 1892 un ...

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

and author of a textbook on Esperanto * Ebenezer Howard, known for his '' Garden Cities of To-morrow'' (1898), the description of a

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. *

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

, gave several speeches using Esperanto during his careerWho Supports Esperanto?
* Franko Luin, Swedish type designer of Slovene nationality * John E. B. Mayor, English classical scholar, gave a historic speech against Esperanto reformists at the World Congress of Esperanto held at Cambridge * Frank Merrick, English composer * 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, Hungarian chess teacher * Susan Polgar, Hungarian-American chess grandmaster, taught Esperanto by her father László * George Soros, 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. * Marcelle Tiard, French Esperantist who co-founded the Union of Esperantist Women. * Antoon Jozef Witteryck, Belgian publisher and instructor * Fredrick Brennan, founder of 8chan

Sources

* This page has been translated from the article :fr:Espérantiste on the French Wikipedia, accessed on June 13, 2006. * Information on William Thomas Stead from the Esperanto Vikipedio article.

References

External links

''100 eminentaj esperantistoj''
"100 eminent Esperantists" (eo) {{DEFAULTSORT:Esperanto speakers Esperanto Lists of people by language