- 1887-07-26 —
Leyzer (Eliezer) Levi Zamenhof published, in Russian, La Unua Libro, (The First Book) of his fully-formed manual of the Esperanto language, signing it "Doktoro Esperanto", the nom de plume of its creator. By way of explanation, the word "esperanto", in Esperanto, means "One who hopes".
- Some estimates optimistically place the number of people familiar to some degree with the language at nearly two million, and it is now among the languages taught on the popular website and app Duolingo. But there are only perhaps some ten thousand fully fluent Esperanto speakers.
- See JPost.com 8Feb2022 for a full history of the language and of the Zamenof family.
- 1925-04-00 —
Louise Gregory travelled from Luxembourg to Vienna where she met William Herrigel. She accompanied him to Graz where he delivered a couple of lectures. Louise stayed in Graz for about one month. [SVH130-132]
- It was probably during this time that she met Lydia Zamenhof in Geneva. [SYH150]
- 1925-08-03 — The opening of the 17th Universal Congress of Esperanto in Geneva. This congress marked the first public melding of the Bahá'í Faith and Esperanto. Shoghi Effendi had asked that Julia Culver join Martha Root as representatives. It was attended by Ella Goodall Cooper and Dr Adelbert Muhlsehlegel from Stuttgart who gave a short talk in Esperanto. Also in attendance were Dr Sophie and Lydia Zamenhof, daughters of the late Dr L L Zamenhof. It was here that Lidia Zamenhof first encountered the Bahá'í Faith. [MR231-233]
See The Bahai Movement and Esperanto; Words of Baha'o'llah and Abdul-Baha by Jeanne Bolles published in Star of the West Vol 11 No 17 p286-287 and 290-291.
Note: An Esperanto Congress has been held every year since inauguration in 1905 (with the exception of the years of the First and Second World Wars and in 2021 it was scheduled to be in Belfast but was held online due to the global pandemic. [Universal Esperanto Association] - 1926-04-00 —
Lidia Zamenhof, a daughter of the founder of Esperanto Ludwik Zamenhof, became a Bahá'í, the first Pole to accept the Faith. [Lidia71]
- For her story see the podcast Who Was She?
- 1942-08-00 —
Lidia Zamenhof (b. 29 January 1904 in Warsaw) was killed in the gas chambers at Treblinka.
Around 1925 she became a member of the Bahá'í Faith after having learned of the Faith at the 17th World Congress in 1925 in Geneva where she met Martha Root who was already well known among the Esperantists. Dr. Adelbert Muhlschlegel gave a short talk in Esperanto in which he explained Bahá'u'lláh's teachings and cited 'Abdu'l-Bahá's praises of Esperanto and of Dr Zamenhof. In late 1937 she went to the United States to teach that religion as well as Esperanto. In December 1938 she had to leave the United States as that country's Immigration Service declined to extend her visa for the illegal "paid labor" of teaching Esperanto. She returned to Poland, where she continued to teach and translate many Bahá'í writings.
Under the German occupation regime of 1939, her home in Warsaw became part of the Warsaw Ghetto. She was arrested under the charge of having gone to the United States to spread anti-Nazi propaganda, but after a few months, she was released and returned to her home city where she and the rest of her family remained confined. There she endeavoured to help others get medicine and food. She was offered help and escape several times by Polish Esperantists but refused in each case. To one Pole, well-known Esperantist Jozef Arszennik, who had offered her refuge on several occasions, she explained, "you and your family could lose your lives, because whoever hides a Jew perishes along with the Jew who is discovered." To another, her explanation was contained in her last known letter: "Do not think of putting yourself in danger; I know that I must die but I feel it is my duty to stay with my people. God grant that out of our sufferings a better world may emerge. I believe in God. I am a Bahá'í and will die a Bahá'í. Everything is in His hands." [JewAge]
- For her obituary see BW10:533–8.
- See also Lidia by Wendy Heller and published by George Ronald in 1985 and Lidia Zamenhof, a cosmopolitan woman and victim of the Holocaust.
- See JPost.com 8Feb2022 for a full history of the language and of the Zamenof family.
See Lydia Zamenhof by John T Dale on Bahá'í Library Online.
See The Bahai Movement and Esperanto by Jeanne Bolles published in Star of the West Vol 11 No 17 p286-287 and 290-291
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