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Esperanto Day

Authored by Nathaniel Andrews
Published on 26th July, 2022 1 min read

Esperanto Day

An image of Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof with the Esperanto flag.

Today (26/07/2022) is Esperanto Day, an event observed every year to celebrate the birth of the Esperanto language. 

On this date, in 1887, Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof – a Jewish ophthalmologist from what is now Poland – published the world’s first Esperanto textbook, in which he carefully laid out the grammar and vocabulary of a language he had constructed by himself, and which (he hoped) anyone could learn with ease. 

Zamenhof designed the language as a means of international communication and, in subsequent years, it became immensely popular. In particular, many left-wing activists regarded the language as a potentially unifying force for humanity and, as a result, generations of trade unionists, anarchists, socialists, and communists learned (and communicated) in Esperanto. 

Today, there are approximately 100,000 speakers in more than 80 countries, and the language remains widely celebrated. Many Esperantists attend the annual World Esperanto Congress, which has taken place almost every year for over a century, and the language continues to play an important role in education across the world. 

To all those who speak (or are learning to speak) Esperanto, BOA wishes you a very happy Esperanto Day: Feliĉan Esperanto-Tagon!


Authored by Nathaniel Andrews

Nathaniel Andrews

Nathaniel Andrews is Senior Editor at British Online Archives, and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Leeds Arts and Humanities Research Institute. Between October 2018 and September 2021, he taught in the Schools of History and Languages at the University of Leeds, and between September 2021 and June 2022, he was a Lecturer in Spanish and Latin American Cultural Studies at the University of Manchester. His research centres primarily on the history of anarchism in the Hispanic World and North America, and he has several publications on the Spanish and Argentinian labour movements. He is currently working on his first monograph.


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Notable Days

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The British Online Archives Notable Days diary is a platform intended to mark key dates and events throughout the year. The posts draw attention to historical events and figures, as well as recurring cultural traditions and international awareness days, in both religious and secular contexts.

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