Zamenhof Day
| Zamenhof Day | |
|---|---|
 Cake at a Zamenhof Day celebration in Nova Scotia, Canada, 2019 | |
| Official name | Zamenhofa Tago (Esperanto) |
| Also called | Esperanto Literature Day, Esperanto Day, Zamenhof's Birthday, Book Day |
| Observed by | International Esperanto community |
| Type | Cultural holiday |
| Date | 15 December |
| Next time | 15 December 2025 |
| Frequency | annual |
| Part of a series on |
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|---|
Zamenhof Day (Esperanto: Zamenhofa Tago, Polish: Dzień Zamenhofa), also called Esperanto Book Day,[1] is celebrated on 15 December, the birthday of Esperanto creator L. L. Zamenhof.[2] It is the most widely celebrated day in Esperanto culture.[3] On this day, Esperantists hold information sessions and cultural gatherings to promote literature in Esperanto.[1]
The history of celebrating Esperanto on Zamenhof's birthday can be traced back to 17 December 1878, when at a birthday party for his 19th birthday he presented to his friends his Lingwe uniwersala, the first version of his international language.[4][5] By 1887, this language had evolved into what is now recognized as Esperanto when he published the Unua Libro. 15 December previously used to be also known as Esperanto Day,[6] but that is now celebrated on 26 July, the day Unua Libro was published.[7] As of 1927 onwards, 15 December is celebrated within the Esperanto movement as Esperanto Book Day as it is customary to purchase a new book on Esperanto on that occasion.[8][9]
Zamenhof's 150th birth anniversary
[edit]15 December 2009 marked 150 years since Zamenhof's birth, and there were several events to celebrate. On this date, the authorities in his home town of Białystok, Poland, opened a new Zamenhof Center,[10] and a symposium honoring Zamenhof was held in New York City, featuring talks by Arika Okrent and Humphrey Tonkin among other professors.[11]
Also on this date, the search engine Google, in 33 national language versions (but not the international English one), bore a special version of their logo (a Doodle) emblazoned with the Esperanto flag in honor of the occasion,[12][13] which generated, between the 30 biggest Wikipedia languages, 1,750,000 page views on the articles "L. L. Zamenhof".[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Keller, Stefano. "Zamenhof-Day / Esperanto Book Day, 15 December". Translated by Moon, Brian. Universal Esperanto Association. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Birth certificate of Ludwik Zamenhof Archived 29 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine, dated 15 December 1859, Archives of Poland, Post-Partition Era (19th century). It corresponds to 3 December in the then-official Julian calendar of Russia.
- ^ Pri la 145-a Zamenhofa tago at China Radio International
- ^ Boulton, Marjorie. Zamenhof, Aǔtoro de Esperanto. La Laguna : J. Régulo, 1962. (in Esperanto)
- ^ Discussion on the exact date of that birthday party may be found at Message Board Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine at Yahoo Groups Japan
- ^ Limako (15 December 2009). "Esperanto Day at Google". Esperanto-USA.org. Archived from the original on 18 December 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ "Esperanto Day" (PDF). Universal Esperanto Association. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ "Today in history: How will you celebrate Zamenhof (aka Esperanto) Day?". People's World. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ "The Man who Hoped: Celebrating Esperanto Book Day". European studies blog. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
- ^ Limako (12 December 2009). "Esperanto Today". Esperanto-USA.org. Archived from the original on 26 December 2009. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
- ^ Zamenhof Symposium
- ^ Zamenhof Honored by Google, Huliq.com. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Google festas la Zamenhof-Tagon, Libera Folio Archived 6 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
- ^ Blahuš, Marek. "Google: Reklami Esperanton... sen esperantistoj" Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, La Ondo de Esperanto, 2010, n-ro 2 (184), p.8.
External links
[edit]
Media related to Zamenhofa Tago at Wikimedia Commons
