Dr. Stefano Bakonyi (1892–1969) was a Hungarian writer, consultant, and pioneering engineer. Bakonyi was born near

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 ...

into a family of modest means. After completing the classic gymnasium, he studied chemistry as a student worker. Between 1914 and 1918, he served in the Hungarian army. He suffered a serious cranio-cerebral injury during this time. After recovering, he worked for an extended period in German industry as well as in English speaking countries. He became a consultant and remained in this specialization when he later went into business on his own. He remained active in this profession for the remainder of his life. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Bakonyi family lived in

Bordighera Bordighera (; , locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Imperia, Liguria (Italy). Geography Bordighera is located from the land border between Italy and France, the French coast is visible from the town. Having the Capo Sant'Ampel ...

, a city occupied by

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

forces. Stefano Bakonyi became involved in the international language movement, first as an

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 ...

and later, in turn, as an Idist, an Occidentalist, and an Interlinguist. Among his publications was a book about

Interlingua Interlingua (, ) is an international auxiliary language (IAL) developed between 1937 and 1951 by the American International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA). It is a constructed language of the "naturalistic" variety, whose vocabulary, ...

and the history of universal language titled ''Civilization e Lingua Universal''. A month before his death, he founded the Foundation Bakonyi pro Lingua Universal in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

Switzerland to underwrite Interlingua publications.

References

External links

* Bakonyi, Stephano, ''Civilisation e Lingua Universal: Essayo historico-cultural e linguistic''. Luzern: Hugo Fischer, 1978
Civilization e Lingua Universal web backup
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakonyi, Stephano Interlingua speakers 1892 births 1969 deaths Hungarian writers