One day in the late 2000s, a teenage musician received an AOL instant message from a friend asking if he had heard of Esperanto, the universal language invented in the late 19th century by Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist LL Zamenhof. The friend pitched it as a language so easy to learn it would become a shared second tongue and foster world peace. Years later, after forgetting about it, the author acquired a shortwave radio and discovered China Radio International and the Vatican still broadcast in Esperanto. Reminded of the language, he joined over a million people on Duolingo to learn it.
The Congress in Brno
Last summer, after months of study, the author registered for the 110th annual World Esperanto Congress in Brno, Czechia. Over 1,000 attendees from more than 60 countries gathered to speak only Esperanto. At the Movement Fair, Esperantist organisations promoted their causes: Catholic Esperantists gave prayer cards, the International Federation of Esperanto Railwaymen drew crowds, and the International Esperanto Naturist Organisation handed out pamphlets offering free swimming excursions.
The congress featured lectures on topics from the James Webb telescope to Chinese spring festival. Esperanto is designed for simplicity: suffixes indicate parts of speech, stress is always on the second-to-last syllable, and words are built from roots and affixes. The language is governed by the Akademio de Esperanto, a panel of 45 linguists and others that makes formal recommendations on changes.
History and Ideology
Zamenhof published his language in 1887 under the pen name Doktoro Esperanto – “one who hopes.” Early enthusiasts included anarcho-syndicalists, socialists, and “anationalists.” The movement grew after the first world war, with the League of Nations considering introducing Esperanto in schools in 1920, but France and Brazil dissented. Under Stalin, Franco, and Hitler, speakers were persecuted. After the second world war, Esperanto flourished in the Soviet Union and Asia. Today, the internet has brought new life: Wikipedia has nearly 400,000 articles in Esperanto.
Modern Esperantists
Many younger attendees use the Pasporta Servo, a global network of Esperantists offering free homestays. Georgos Jurobola, a 33-year-old Brazilian, has been nomadic since 2019, travelling and staying with other speakers. “I am completely nomadic,” he said. “When I arrive to a new place, I write to Esperantists, and immediately I have friends.”
The movement has largely shifted from political ambitions to community building, embodied by the Raŭmismo ideology from a 1980 congress that rejects trying to make Esperanto official. Thierry Spanjaard, a leader of the Esperanto Naturist Organisation, said the language is about respect: “It’s fun. I meet interesting people. It’s a means to travel.”
A Lasting Appeal
Despite the rise of English and instant translation apps, Esperanto offers something deeper. Slovakian publisher Petro Baláž explained: “If our aim is only to buy a hamburger, then [those tools] are enough. But it’s something totally different … to speak about the meaning of life.”
The author attended a Catholic mass in Esperanto at a 13th-century monastery chapel, given by a Chinese priest on the feast day of Titus Brandsma, a Nazi-fighting Esperantist saint. The ritual was familiar to all, and the author felt a sense of sincerity and patient unity.
