Zamenhof Day (
Zamenhofa Tago in
Esperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
) is celebrated on December 15, the
birthdayA birthday, as the term implies, is the anniversary of the particular day on which a person was born. Though by no means universal, such occasions are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a party or, in some instances, a rite of passage....
of
Esperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
creator
L. L. ZamenhofLudwik Łazarz Zamenhof was an ophthalmologist, philologist, and the inventor of Esperanto, a constructed language designed for international communication....
. It is the most widely celebrated day in
Esperanto cultureThe language Esperanto is often used to access an international culture, including a large body of original as well as translated literature. There are over 25,000 Esperanto books as well as over a hundred regularly distributed Esperanto magazines. Many Esperanto speakers use the language for...
.
The history of celebrating Esperanto on Zamenhof's birthday can be traced back to his birthday party on December 17, 1878, where he presented to his friends his
Lingwe uniwersala, the first version of his
international languageAn international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
. By 1887, this language had evolved into what is now recognized as Esperanto when he published the
Unua LibroThe Unua Libro was the first publication to describe the international language Esperanto . It was first published in Russian on July 26, 1887 in Warsaw, by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto. Over the next few years editions were published in Russian, Hebrew, Polish, French, German,...
.
Today, many Esperanto speakers buy an extra Esperanto book around this time of year.
Discussion
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Zamenhof Day (
Zamenhofa Tago in
Esperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
) is celebrated on December 15, the
birthdayA birthday, as the term implies, is the anniversary of the particular day on which a person was born. Though by no means universal, such occasions are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with a party or, in some instances, a rite of passage....
of
Esperantois the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto, the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887. The word esperanto means "one who hopes" in the language itself...
creator
L. L. ZamenhofLudwik Łazarz Zamenhof was an ophthalmologist, philologist, and the inventor of Esperanto, a constructed language designed for international communication....
. It is the most widely celebrated day in
Esperanto cultureThe language Esperanto is often used to access an international culture, including a large body of original as well as translated literature. There are over 25,000 Esperanto books as well as over a hundred regularly distributed Esperanto magazines. Many Esperanto speakers use the language for...
.
The history of celebrating Esperanto on Zamenhof's birthday can be traced back to his birthday party on December 17, 1878, where he presented to his friends his
Lingwe uniwersala, the first version of his
international languageAn international auxiliary language or interlanguage is a language meant for communication between people from different nations who do not share a common native language...
. By 1887, this language had evolved into what is now recognized as Esperanto when he published the
Unua LibroThe Unua Libro was the first publication to describe the international language Esperanto . It was first published in Russian on July 26, 1887 in Warsaw, by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto. Over the next few years editions were published in Russian, Hebrew, Polish, French, German,...
.
Today, many Esperanto speakers buy an extra Esperanto book around this time of year. There are also special Esperanto gatherings and parties throughout the world to celebrate the occasion, which is used as a reason for
EsperantistAn Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes. Although definitions of "Esperantist" vary, according to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed at the first World Congress of Esperanto, an Esperantist is someone who speaks...
s to get together during the winter holiday season.
Some Esperanto speakers, not wanting to over-celebrate the achievements of a single man, have suggested celebrating December 15 as
Esperanto Literature Day instead. Thus they encourage Esperanto organizations that hold gatherings on that day to add a book review or poetry reading to the program or to announce the publication of a new book. On an individual level, one can buy or start reading a new book or in some other way celebrate
Esperanto literatureEsperanto literature began before the official publication of the constructed language Esperanto; the language's creator, L. L. Zamenhof, translated poetry and prose into the language as he was developing it as a test of its completeness and expressiveness, and published several translations and a...
.