Editing L. L. Zamenhof (section)

===Early years===
[[File:Zamenhof-1879.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Zamenhof, {{c.|1879}}]]
Zamenhof was born on 15 December 1859,{{efn|name=fn1}} the son of [[Mark Zamenhof|Mark]] and [[:eo:Rozalia Zamenhof|Rozalia Zamenhof]] ({{nee|Sofer}}), in the multi-ethnic city of [[Belostok]]<ref>{{cite web |first=James R. |last=Russell |author-link=James R. Russell |date=8 February 2022 |title=Did Esperanto answer the 'Jewish Question'? |url=https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-695810 |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209080042/https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-695810 |archive-date=9 February 2022 |url-status=live |quote=Leyzer (Eliezer) Levi Zamenhof was born in 1859 into a Jewish family in Belostok, a provincial city in the Russian Empire, now Bialystok, Poland. }}</ref> (now [[Białystok]] in Poland).<ref>{{Cite web |title=100th anniversary of the death of L. ZAMENHOF, the creator of the Esperanto |url=http://www.culturepolonaise.eu/3,2,765,en,100th_anniversary_of_the_death_of_L_ZAMENHOF_the_creator_of_the_Esperanto |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191010160515/http://www.culturepolonaise.eu/3,2,765,en,100th_anniversary_of_the_death_of_L_ZAMENHOF_the_creator_of_the_Esperanto |archive-date=10 October 2019 |access-date=10 October 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Korzhenkov |first=Aleksander |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WMcIE1svMC&q=L.L.+Zamenhof+Bio |title=Zamenhof: The Life, Works and Ideas of the Author of Esperanto |date=2010 |publisher=Mondial |isbn=978-1-59569-167-5 |pages=3 |language=en |quote=..born on December 15, 1859, into a Jewish family in what was then the Russian city of Bialystock... |access-date=6 November 2022 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003053229/https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WMcIE1svMC&q=L.L.+Zamenhof+Bio |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Kiselman" /> At that time, the city was in the [[Grodno Governorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]]. His parents were of [[Litvaks|Litvak]] descent. He appears to have been natively bilingual in [[Yiddish]] and [[Russian language|Russian]].<ref name="Kiselman">{{cite book |author=Christer Kiselman |url=http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf |title=Esperanto: Its Origins and Early History |work=Prace Komisji Spraw Europejskich PAU. Tom II, pp. 39–56 |publisher=[[Polish Academy of Learning]] |year=2008 |page=2 |quote=What was his first language? He wrote in a letter in 1901 that his "parental language" (mother tongue) was Russian, but that at the time he was speaking more in Polish (Zamenhof 1929:523). However, all other evidence points to Yiddish as his mother tongue and first language. He was born in Białystok on December 3, 1859 |access-date=15 December 2014 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304222655/http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> His father was a teacher of French and German. From him, Zamenhof learned both languages, as well as [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. He also spoke some major languages of Białystok, such as [[Polish language|Polish]] and [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]]. Polish became the native language of his children in [[Warsaw]]. In school, he studied the classical languages [[Latin]], [[Greek language|Greek]], and [[Aramaic]]. He later learned some English, though in his own words not very well. He had an interest in Italian and [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] and learned [[Volapük]] when it came out in 1880. By that time, his international language project was already well-developed.<ref>Christer Kiselman, [http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf "Esperanto: Its origins and early history"] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304222655/http://www2.math.uu.se/~kiselman/pau2008.pdf |date=4 March 2016 }}, in Andrzej Pelczar, ed., 2008, ''Prace Komisji Spraw Europejskich PAU'', vol. II, pp. 39–56, Krakaw.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |author=Claude Piron |title=Kontribuaĵo al la studo pri la influoj de la jida sur Esperanton |journal=Jewish Language Review |volume=4 |year=1984 |url=http://user.in-berlin.de/~maxnet/esperanto/piron/jida.htm |access-date=28 December 2008 |archive-date=11 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171111024539/http://user.in-berlin.de/~maxnet/esperanto/piron/jida.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In addition to the Jewish Yiddish-speaking minority, the population of Białystok included [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] [[Polish people|Poles]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church|Eastern Orthodox]] [[Russians]] (mainly government officials), with smaller groups of [[Belarusians]], [[Germans]] and other ethnicities. Zamenhof was saddened and frustrated by the many quarrels among these groups. He supposed that the main reason for the hate and prejudice lay in the mutual misunderstanding caused by the lack of a common language. If such a language existed, Zamenhof postulated, it could play the role of a neutral communication tool between people of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/birth-ludwig-zamenhof-creator-esperanto |title=Birth of Ludwig Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto {{!}} History Today |website=www.historytoday.com |access-date=9 August 2017 |archive-date=10 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210041530/http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/birth-ludwig-zamenhof-creator-esperanto |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Steven G. |last=Kellman |author-link=Steven G. Kellman |date=30 August 2016 |title=The Secret Jewish History of Esperanto |url=https://forward.com/culture/348344/the-secret-jewish-history-of-esperanto/ |website=[[The Forward]] |access-date=9 February 2022 |archive-date=9 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209203844/https://forward.com/culture/348344/the-secret-jewish-history-of-esperanto/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Esperanto sidebar |expanded=History}}

As a student at secondary school in [[Warsaw, Poland|Warsaw]], Zamenhof attempted to create an international language with a grammar that was rich, but complex. When he later studied English, he decided that the international language must have simpler grammar. Apart from his parents' native languages Russian and [[Yiddish]] and his adopted language [[Polish language|Polish]], his projects were also aided by his mastery of German, a good passive understanding of [[Latin language|Latin]], Hebrew and French, and a basic knowledge of Greek, English and Italian.<ref>Holzhaus, Adolf: ''Doktoro kaj lingvo Esperanto''. Helsinki: Fondumo Esperanto. 1969</ref>

By 1878, his project ''[[Proto-Esperanto|Lingwe uniwersala]]'' was finished.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Exploring the Possibilities for the Emergence of a Single and Global Native Language |last=Dufour |first=Fritz |publisher=Fritz Dufour |year=2017 |pages=93 }}</ref> However, Zamenhof was too young then to publish his work. Soon after graduation, he began to study medicine, first in [[Imperial Moscow University|Moscow]], and later in Warsaw. In 1885, Zamenhof graduated from university and began his practice as a doctor in [[Veisiejai]]. After 1886, he worked as an [[Ophthalmology|ophthalmologist]] in [[Płock]] and Vienna. While healing people there, he continued to work on his project of an international language.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.historytoday.com/archive/birth-ludwig-zamenhof-creator-esperanto |title=Birth of Ludwig Zamenhof, creator of Esperanto |website=History Today |access-date=15 July 2019 |archive-date=26 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190226172957/https://www.historytoday.com/archive/birth-ludwig-zamenhof-creator-esperanto |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Unua Libro ru 1st ed.pdf|thumb|left|upright|What later Esperantists called ''Unua libro'' ("First book") was published in Russian, 1887.]]

For two years, he tried to raise funds to publish a booklet describing the language, until he received financial help from his future wife's father. In 1887, the book titled ''Международный язык. Предисловие и полный учебникъ'' (International language: Introduction and complete textbook) was published in Russian<ref>Keith Brown and Sarah Ogilvie, ''Concise Encyclopedia of Languages of the World'' (Elsevier, 2009: {{ISBN|0-08-087774-5}}), p. 375.</ref> under the pseudonym "Doktoro Esperanto" (Doctor Hoper, or literally "Doctor One Who Hopes"). Zamenhof initially called his language "Lingvo internacia" (international language), but those who learned it began to call it ''Esperanto'' after his pseudonym, and this soon became the official name for the language. For Zamenhof, this language, far from being merely a communication tool, was a way to promote peaceful coexistence between people of different cultures.<ref name="Jason Zasky">{{citation |title=Discouraging Words |magazine=Failure Magazine |date=20 July 2009 |first=Jason |last=Zasky |quote=But in terms of invented languages, it's the most outlandishly successful invented language ever. It has thousands of speakers—even native speakers—and that's a major accomplishment as compared to the 900 or so other languages that have no speakers. – Arika Okrent |url=http://failuremag.com/feature/article/discouraging_words/ |access-date=31 December 2013 |archive-date=23 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123202016/http://failuremag.com/feature/article/discouraging_words |url-status=dead }}</ref>