Info about
Esperanto

Testing and Credits
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Why learn Esperanto?
There are thousands of languages spoken on Earth, and dozens by more than 1,000,000 people. The United Nations has hundreds of interpreters (and spends millions on translation) for just six working languages. How can you have real communication through an interpreter, anyhow? Or equal communication when one person is using their native tongue and another isn’ t? Since many problems arise when people can’t communicate well with each other, wouldn’t it seem that world peace would be a step closer if people other than gifted linguists could talk to each other and make friends? (You don’t drop bombs on your friends!) Anyone can have fun and make friends near and far—with Esperanto, an easy-to-learn second language for everybody.

What is Esperanto?
Esperanto is a language designed to facilitate communication between people of different lands and cultures. It was first published in 1887 by Dr. L. L. Zamenhof (1859-1917) under the pseudonym "Dr. Esperanto", meaning "one who hopes", and this is the name that stuck as the name of the language itself.

Esperanto is considerably easier to learn than national languages, since its design is far simpler and more regular. Also, unlike national languages, Esperanto allows communication on an equal footing between people, with neither having the usual cultural advantage favouring a native speaker.

Esperanto's purpose is not to replace any other language, but to supplement them: Esperanto would be used as a neutral language when speaking with someone who doesn't know one's own language. The use of Esperanto would also protect minority languages, which would have a better chance of survival than in a world dominated by a few powerful languages.

Are there any famous Esperanto speakers?
Apart from the famous writers Tolstoj and Tolkien there are many famous Esperanto speakers. Let us start with some Nobel Prize winners:

Nobel Prize Winners:

Sir William Ramsay (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1904)
Awarded the Nobel Prize "in recognition of his services in the discovery of the inert gaseous elements in air, and his determination of their place in the periodic system".
Participated in many Esperanto conferences and meetings.

Sir Joseph J. Thomson (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1906)
"In recognition of the great merits of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases".
Vice-President of the International Esperanto Science Association.

Alfred Hermann Fried (Nobel Prize in Peace, 1911)
"Founder of Die Friedenswarte" (a peace publication).
Author of an Esperanto textbook and contributor to the magazine L'espérantiste.

Charles Ribert Richet (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1913)
"In recognition of his work on anaphylaxis".
Active Esperantist.

Daniel Bovet (Nobel Prize in Medicine, 1957)
"For his discoveries relating to synthetic compounds that inhibit the action of certain body substances, and especially their action on the vascular system and the skeletal muscles".
Learned Esperanto as a first language.

Reinhard Selten (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994)
"For [his] pioneering analysis of equilibria in the theory of non-cooperative games".
Author of two books in Esperanto on games theory.

The annual congresses
The Universal Congresses of Esperanto is probably the Congress with the longest tradition among the international conventions, with an unbroken continuity of almost hundred years. The Congresses have been held since 1905 every year, with the only exception of the years of the two World Wars. This gives us a kind of pioneer character within the Congress industry. UEA has thus about 100 years of experience in congress organizing, and is very proud of this tradition.

Congresses take place every year. Congresses of UEA (known as the Universal Congresses) gather on average about 2000 participants (since the Second World War it has varied from 800 to 6000 depending on the venue). The average number of countries represented is about 60. Some specialized organizations also gather a few hundred participants in their annual meetings. The Universal Congress usually takes place in the last week of July or first week of August, beginning and ending on a Saturday (8 days in total).

There are also annual congresses of TEJO, the youth section of UEA. TEJO congresses gather 300 to 1000 participants. Prior to or immediately after the Universal Congress of Esperanto some other Esparanto organisations also hold their meetings and conventions as well, such us: Union of Esperanto Teachers (200 to 400), Ecumenic Esperanto Union (300 to 500), Union of Blind Esperantists (100 to 300), Union of Esperanto Speaking Medical Personal etc. These organisations have their independent organisational structures but UEA can mediate contacts.

Universalaj Kongresoj de Esperanto
Number... year, place , registered
1 -1905 Boulogne-sur-Mer, Francio 688
2 -1906 Genève, Svislando 1200
3 -1907 Cambridge, Britio 1317
4 -1908 Dresden, Germanio 1500
5 -1909 Barcelona, Hispanio 1500
6 -1910 Washington, Usono 357
7 -1911 Antwerpen, Belgio 1800
8 -1912 Kraków, Pollando 1000
9 -1913 Bern, Svislando 1203
10 -1914 Paris, Francio. Ne okazis. Aligis 3739 , did not take place, WW I.
11 -1915 San Francisco, Usono 163
12 -1920 Den Haag, Nederlando 408
13 -1921 Praha, Cehio 2561
14 -1922 Helsinki, Finnlando 850
15 -1923 Nürnberg, Germanio 4963
16 -1924 Wien, Austrio 3400
17 -1925 Genève, Svislando 953
18 -1926 Edinburgh, Skotlando 960
19 -1927 Danzig (Gdansk) 905
20 -1928 Antwerpen, Belgio 1494
21 -1929 Budapest, Hungario 1200
22 -1930 Oxford, Britio 1211
23 -1931 Kraków, Pollando 900
24 -1932 Paris, Francio 1650
25 -1933 Köln, Germanio 950
26 -1934 Stockholm, Svedio 2042
27 -1935 Roma, Italio 1442
28 -1936 Wien, Austrio 854
29 -1937 Warszawa, Pollando 1120
30 -1938 London, Britio 1602
31 -1939 Bern, Svislando 765
32 -1947 Bern, Svislando 1370
33 -1948 Malmö, Svedio 1761
34 -1949 Bournemouth, Britio 1534
35 -1950 Paris, Francio 2325
36 -1951 München, Germanio 2040
37 -1952 Oslo, Norvegio 1614
38 -1953 Zagreb, Kroatio 1760
39 -1954 Haarlem, Nederlando 2353
40 -1955 Bologna, Italio 1687
41 -1956 København, Danio 2200
42 -1957 Marseille, Francio 1468
43 -1958 Mainz, Germanio 2021
44 -1959 Warszawa, Pollando 3256
45 -1960 Bruelles/Brussel, Belgio 1930
46 -1961 Harrogate, Britio 1646
47 -1962 København, Danio 1550
48 -1963 Sofia, Bulgario 3472
49 -1964 Den Haag, Nederlando 2512
50 -1965 Tôkyô, Japanio 1710
51 -1966 Budapest, Hungario 3975
52 -1967 (Tel-Aviv, Israelo) Rotterdam, Nederlando 1265
53 -1968 Madrid, Hispanio 1769
54 -1969 Helsinki, Finnlando 1857
55 -1970 Wien, Austrio 1987
56 -1971 London, Britio 2071
57 -1972 Portland, Usono 923
58 -1973 Beograd, Jugoslavio 1638
59 -1974 Hamburg, FR Germanio 1651
60 -1975 København, Danio 1227
61 -1976 Athina, Greklando 1266
62 -1977 Reykjavík, Islando 1199
63 -1978 Varna, Bulgario 4414
64 -1979 Luzern, Svislando 1630
65 -1980 Stockholm, Svedio 1807
66 -1981 Brasília, Brazilo 1749
67 -1982 Antwerpen, Belgio 1899
68 -1983 Budapest, Hungario 4834
69 -1984 Vancouver, Kanado 802
70 -1985 Augsburg, Germanio 2311
71 -1986 Beijing, Cinio 2482
72 -1987 Warszawa, Pollando 5946
73 -1988 Rotterdam, Nederlando 2321
74 -1989 Brighton, Britio 2280
75 -1990 La Habana, Kubo 1617
76 -1991 Bergen, Norvegio 2400
77 -1992 Wien, Austrio 3033
78 -1993 València, Hispanio 1863
79 -1994 Seoul, Koreio 1776
80 -1995 Tampere, Finnlando 2443
81 -1996 Praha, Ceha Respubliko 2972
82 -1997 Adelaide, Australio 1224
83 -1998 Montpellier, Francio 3133
84 -1999 Berlin, Germanio 2712
85 -2000 Tel-Aviv, Israelo 1212
86 -2001 Zagreb, Kroatio 1691
87 -2002 Fortaleza, Brazilo 1483
88 -2003 Göteborg, Svedio
89 -2004 Beijing, Cinio
90 -2005 Vilnius, Litovio

UEA - the central Esperanto organization in the world
UEA is an international non-governmental organization enjoying special relations with the United Nations and with UNESCO. UEA is by far the largest of the various international organizations promoting the use of the international language Esperanto. It has members in 115 countries all over the world. There are 62 national Esperanto associations affiliated to the UEA and a further dozen national organizations working closely with us. There are also various specialist and professional international organizations which have a considerable membership worldwide. Many of these fifty or so specialist organizations have their own conferences, for which Esperanto is the working language.

Representatives in 70 countries all over the world
In order to simplify contacts and to improve the quality of services to its members, UEA has a network of delegates, or representatives, in hundreds of cities in some 70 countries. There are two types of UEA-representatives: professional ones (for services in various fields of professional or special interest activity) and ordinary delegates. These are authorized to give information on the work of UEA and to represent the Association in their city or town; they also normally take part in the activities of the Association. There are also youth delegates and one of the most popular features of this network is in the accommodation field.

ELNA, Box 1129, El Cerrito, CA 94530
Tel: 510-653-0998
Fax: 510-653-1468
email: elna@esperanto-usa.org