Lost in the Jungle? Esperanto Might Save You

Imagine this: you survive a plane crash and find yourself deep in the jungle. You wander through thick trees, searching for water, when suddenly a native tribesman appears, bow in hand. You want to show you mean no harm but you have no idea what language he speaks.

What can you do?

A surprising answer is: speak Esperanto.

Esperanto is not a coffee brand, it’s a language created to be international, so people anywhere in the world could communicate. It was invented by an extraordinary Jewish man named Eliezer Ludwig Zamenhof.

Zamenhof was an ophthalmologist from the city of Bialystok, living on Zelona Street, where he also founded a children’s school. Today, the street is called “Zamenhof Street” in his honor.

Bialystok was a crossroads city, often changing rulers between different empires. At the time of Zamenhof’s life, it was part of the Russian Empire, but it had also been Polish and Prussian in different periods. Its population was a colorful mix, Russians, Poles, Belarusians, Germans, Lithuanians, Tatars, and Jews and each speaking their own language. Communication was often difficult, and the young Zamenhof dreamed of a way to bring people together through a shared tongue.

Around this time, Zamenhof learned about a language called “Volapük,” created by Johann Martin Schleyer, who claimed he was divinely inspired in a dream in 1879 to invent it. By 1880, Schleyer had published its first textbook. The name came from “vol” (world) and “pük” (speak). Volapük quickly became a sensation across Europe, with clubs springing up, attracting around 100,000 speakers and over a thousand certified teachers.

Volapük’s pronunciation avoided difficult sounds like the Hebrew letter “ḥet” (a guttural “h”) not found in Russian, or the English “g” sound that doesn’t exist in Hebrew. However, while its goals were noble, Volapük was extremely hard to learn. Schleyer’s dream had skipped the chapter on simplicity.

This is where Zamenhof stepped in. He designed a new language that was far easier to learn. Like Hebrew, Esperanto uses small word roots that can be combined with different endings, letting speakers form many words without memorizing entirely new ones.

Esperanto quickly gained ground. In 1888, all the Volapük societies voted to adopt Esperanto instead, because it was so much simpler. Still, a few loyal Volapük speakers remain even today.

In 1905, the first World Esperanto Congress took place in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, conducted entirely in Esperanto. Around that time, the Baháʼí Faith briefly considered making Esperanto its official international language but ultimately chose English. The Japanese “Oomoto” religion, with hundreds of thousands of followers, did make Esperanto its official language and to this day, many of its members visit Zamenhof’s grave annually to express their gratitude.

But Zamenhof’s vision went beyond language. He also created a universal moral philosophy called “Homaranismo,” inspired by the famous teaching of Hillel the Elder: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

In 1913, Zamenhof published the principles of Homaranismo. While rooted in the spirit of Judaism, he wrote them in a way that could be embraced by all people. Sadly, the outbreak of World War I hindered his ability to spread these ideas widely. Still, his work touched many, leaving a lasting mark on both language and moral thought.