Editing Claude Piron

{{Short description|Swiss translator and Esperantist (1931–2008)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Claude Piron
| image             = Claude Piron.jpg
| caption           = Piron, Boulogne Congress, 2005
| birth_date        = {{birth date|df=yes|1931|2|26}}
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|1|22|1931|2|26}}
| birth_place       = Namur, Belgium
| death_place       = Gland, Switzerland
}}
'''Claude Piron''', also known by the pseudonym '''Johán Valano''', was a Swiss [[psychologist]], [[Esperantist]], [[translation|translator]], and writer. He worked as a translator for the [[United Nations]] from 1956 to 1961 and then for the [[World Health Organization]].

He was a prolific author of [[Esperanto]] works. He spoke Esperanto from childhood and used it in Japan, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, in Africa and [[Latin America]], and in nearly all the countries of Europe.

== Life ==
Piron was a [[psychotherapy|psychotherapist]] and taught from 1973 to 1994 in the psychology department at the [[University of Geneva]] in Switzerland.  His French-language book ''Le défi des langues – Du gâchis au bon sens'' (The Language Challenge: From Chaos to Common Sense, 1994) is a kind of [[psychoanalysis]] of international communication. A Portuguese version, ''O desafio das linguas'', was published in 2002 (Campinas, São Paulo, Pontes).

In a lecture on the current system of international communication<ref>{{cite web|url=http://claudepiron.free.fr/articlesenanglais/effects.htm|title=Claude Piron – communication, langues, espéranto|website=claudepiron.free.fr}}</ref> Piron argued that "Esperanto relies entirely on innate reflexes" and "differs from all other languages in that you can always trust your natural tendency to generalize patterns... The same neuropsychological law...—called by [[Jean Piaget]] ''generalizing assimilation''—applies to word formation as well as to grammar."

His diverse Esperanto writings include instructional books, books for beginners, novels, short stories, poems, articles and non-fiction books.  His most famous works are ''[[Gerda malaperis!]]'' and ''[[La Bona Lingvo]]'' (The Good Language).

''Gerda malaperis!'' is a novella which uses basic grammar and vocabulary in the first chapter and builds up to expert Esperanto by the end, including word lists so that beginners may easily follow along.

In ''La Bona Lingvo'', Piron captures the basic linguistic and social aspects of Esperanto.  He argues strongly for imaginative use of the basic Esperanto [[morpheme]] inventory and word-formation techniques, and against unnecessary importation of neologisms from European languages.  He also presents the idea that, once one has learned enough vocabulary to express himself, it is easier to think clearly in Esperanto than in many other languages.

Piron is the author of a book in French, ''Le bonheur clés en main'' (The Keys to Happiness), which distinguishes among pleasure, happiness and joy. He showed how one may avoid contributing to his own "anti-happiness" (''l'anti-bonheur'') and how one may expand the areas of happiness in his life. Piron's view was that, while one may desire happiness, desire is not enough. He said that just as people must do certain things in order to become physically stronger, they must do certain things in order to become happier.

==See also==
*[[Esperanto]]
*[[Translation#Machine translation|Machine translation]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Claude Piron, ''Le défi des langues – Du gâchis au bon sens'' (The Language Challenge:  From Chaos to Common Sense), Paris, L'Harmattan, 1994.
*Claude Piron, ''Le bonheur clés en main'' (The Keys to Happiness), Saint-Maurice, Saint Augustin, 1998.

== External links ==
{{commons category-inline}}
* [http://claudepiron.free.fr/articles.htm Articles and texts in many languages] by Claude Piron
* [http://www.translationdirectory.com/esperanto.htm Articles in English] by Claude Piron
* {{YouTube|_YHALnLV9XU|The language challenge—facing up to reality }}
* {{YouTube|H0D9S5aUn70|Les langues: un défi – Pt1 }}-{{YouTube|jbpJ9ZYHUuc| Pt2 }}-{{YouTube|wceKmni9-wI| Pt3 }}-{{YouTube|N8OPHt4npHM| Pt4 }}-{{YouTube|Pq9cveurcg0| Pt5 }}-{{YouTube|-E0Fq7P0W28| Pt6 }}-{{YouTube|GBa78ZLRljc| Pt7 }}-{{YouTube|5yJoAPVVHyc| Pt8 }}-{{YouTube|bs27f-TlZu4| Pt9 }}-{{YouTube|dpUVi4T8Pq0| Pt10 }}

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[[Category:1931 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Swiss Esperantists]]
[[Category:Writers of Esperanto literature]]