Ralph Midgley (25 November 1929 – 23 May 2024) was the ''Guvan'' ('Administrator') of the

Volapük Volapük (; , 'Language of the World', or lit. 'World Speak') is a constructed language created in 1879 and 1880 by Johann Martin Schleyer, a Roman Catholic priest in Baden, Germany, who believed that God told him to create an international lang ...

Community (according to an

edict An edict is a decree or announcement of a law, often associated with monarchies, but it can be under any official authority. Synonyms include "dictum" and "pronouncement". ''Edict'' derives from the Latin edictum. Notable edicts * Telepinu ...

of the former Cifal Brian Bishop made on 1 January 2006). He was active in the Volapük community between 1972 and 2015. He was the author of a number of online teaching courses released under the names ''Volapük for Everyone'' and ''Volapük in Action'', as well as a brief introduction called ''Volapük vifik'' ('Quick Volapük'). He formed the Flenef Bevünetik Volapüka ('The International Community of Friends of Volapük'), and published a magazine ''Vög Volapüka'' ('The Voice of Volapük') which followed on from a publication known as ''Sirkülapenäd'' ('The Newsletter'). His enthusiastic activism in, and promotion of Volapük was a significant contributory factor to the number of people who studied and learnt the language at that time. He became the administrator of the Volapük movement in 2006 and was a member of the Volapük Academy from 2007 until 2015. In 2015, he stepped down from all of his engagements in the Volapük movement due to his age and failing eyesight. He was made an honorary academician (''stimakadämal'') of the International Volapük Society on December 1, 2015 according to an official edict by the current Cifal, Hermann Phillips.Dalebüd Cifala de 2015, Dekul 1, Nüm: 4
December 1, 2015. Midgley lived in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

in northern England. Midgley was notable for having translated ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

'' into both Neo and Volapük.

References

External links

In Volapük and English:
Volapük Vifik
"Quick Volapük", a brief introduction for beginners.
Flenef bevünetik Volapüka
* , Midgley's first magazine in Volapük.
Volapükagrup
Yahoo discussion list where Midgley is active.

Translation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland into Neo. {{DEFAULTSORT:Midgley, Ralph 1929 births Linguists from the United Kingdom Translators to Volapük Volapükologists Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)