KAZIMIERZ BEIN

Kazimierz Bein

 

Kazimierz Bein (1872 – June 15, 1959) was a Polish ophthalmologist, the founder and sometime director of the Warsaw Ophthalmic Institute (Warszawski Instytut Oftalmiczny). He was also, for a time, a prominent Esperanto author, translator and activist, until in 1911 he suddenly, without explanation, abandoned the Esperanto movement. Bein became at least as well known for his involvement with Esperanto as for his medical accomplishments, and as much for the manner in which he left the Esperanto movement as for what he had accomplished within it. Among Esperantists, he is commonly known by his pseudonym, Kabe. As a young man, Bein participated in the Polish movement for independence from Russia, for which he was exiled for several years; thus he was forced to finish his medical training in Kazan. Bein authored many technical books and articles, and founded the Warsaw Ophthalmic Institute and the Polish Ophthalmological Society. He was also a noted amateur photographer. Bein was among the earliest adopters of Esperanto, the international language that had been created by a fellow Polish ophthalmologist, Ludwik Zamenhof. Bein became an eminent pioneer of Esperanto prose, writing under the pseudonym, "Kabe," an abbreviation of his actual name (and also the Polish pronunciation of his initials, "K.B."). In 1904 he gained fame with his translation of a 1900 novel by Wacław Sieroszewski, Dno nędzy (The Depths of Misery; Esperanto title: Fundo de l' Mizero). In 1906 Bein became vice-president of the Academy of Esperanto. He had a profound influence on the language's early development. The highlights of his career were most likely his Esperanto translation of Bolesław Prus' historical novel, Faraon, and one of the first Esperanto dictionaries, Vortaro de Esperanto. Bein is, however, probably best known for his sudden, comment-less 1911 disappearance from the Esperanto scene. Interviewed twenty years later, in 1931, by the Esperanto magazine, Literatura Mondo (World of Literature), he spoke of Esperanto's stalled progress, and said that he no longer regarded the language as a viable solution to the need for an international language. Shortly after he had left the movement, Esperantists coined the word "kabei," after "Kabe," meaning "to fervently and successfully participate in Esperanto, then suddenly and silently drop out." The expression, "kabei," remains in use by Esperantists to this day.

 

JULIO BAGHY

Julio Baghy

 

Julio Baghy (13 January 1891, Szeged – 18 March 1967, Budapest) was a Hungarian actor and one of the leading authors of the Esperanto movement. He is the author of several famous novels but it is particularly in the field of poetry that he proved his mastery of Esperanto. Baghy was born into a theatrical family — his father was an actor, and his mother a stage prompter. He began learning Esperanto in 1911. He started work as an actor and theatre manager, but the First World War intervened and took him out of his home country for six years. He was captured and made a prisoner of war in Siberia. It was during this time that he began to work for the Esperanto movement, writing poetry and teaching the language to his fellow inmates.

 

Literary works

 

Baghy wrote two books on the subject of captivity in Siberia: Viktimoj (Victims, 1925), and Sur Sanga Tero (On Bloody Soil, 1933), republished together as a single volume in 1971. His satirical novel Hura! (Hooray!, 1930) was somewhat less of a success. Its sequel Insulo de Espero (Island of Hope) was lost during the war. His most famous novel Printempo en Aŭtuno (Spring in Autumn) was written in 1931.

 

Poetry

 

It is however for his poetry that Baghy is best known. His first poems were written during his time of captivity in Siberia. Hitherto those poets such as Zamenhof who had written in Esperanto were limited by the still young language and apart from Antoni Grabowski, no poet had managed to make a mark on the language. Baghy's most significant collection of poems was his first: Preter la Vivo (Beyond Life, published in 1922). Among his more notable collection of poems are Pilgrimo (Pilgrim, 1926) and Vagabondo Kantas (The Vagabond Sings, 1933). In 1966 he produced Ĉielarko (Rainbow), retelling in verse the folk tales from twelve different nations. His last collection of poems, Aŭtunaj folioj (Autumn leaves) was published posthumously in 1970. Returning to Hungary after the war, he became one of the principal teachers of the Esperanto movement, organising newsgroups and literary evenings. In addition to working in his native Hungary, he organised courses in countries such as Estonia, Latvia, the Netherlands and France. He was one of the principal writers for the Esperanto literary review Literatura Mondo until 1933. His works reflect a slogan of his: Amo kreas pacon, Paco konservas homecon, Homeco estas plej alta idealismo. (Love creates peace, Peace preserves humanity, Humanity is the highest ideal.) Several of his works were granted awards by the Academy of Esperanto and a number of his novels have been translated into several languages.

 

MARJORIE BOULTON

Marjorie Boulton

 

Marjorie Boulton (born 7 May 1924) is a British author and poet writing in both English and Esperanto.[1] Author of Zamenhof: Creator of Esperanto— a biography of L. L. Zamenhof published in 1960 by Routledge & Kegan Paul of London — she also wrote The Anatomy of Poetry, The Anatomy of Prose, The Anatomy of Drama, The Anatomy of the Novel and The Anatomy of Language. Marjorie Boulton taught English literature in teacher training and (from 1962 to 1970) as a college principal for 24 years before turning to full-time research and writing. She is author of many books, and is also a well known writer in Esperanto. Boulton is currently a president of two Esperanto organisations, Kat-amikaro and ODES

WILLIUM AULD

William Auld

William Auld (6 November 1924 – 11 September 2006) was a Scottish poet, author, translator and magazine editor who wrote chiefly in Esperanto. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, 2004, and 2006 making him the first and only person to be nominated for works in Esperanto[citation needed]. His magnum opus, La infana raso (The Infant Race), is a long poem that, in Auld's words, explores "the role of the human race in time and in the cosmos," and is based heavily on The Cantos by Ezra Pound. Auld began to learn Esperanto in 1937 but only became active in the propagation of the language in 1947, and from then on wrote many works in Esperanto. He edited various magazines and reviews, including Esperanto en Skotlando (1949-1955), Esperanto (1955-1958, 1961-1962), Monda Kulturo (1962-1963), Norda Prismo (1968-1972), La Brita Esperantisto (1973-1999) and Fonto (1980-1987). He was the Vice-President of the World Esperanto Association (1977-1980), president of the Academy of Esperanto (1979-1983), and honorary president of the Esperanto PEN Centre. In 2001, he donated his large personal collection of Esperanto literature to the Scottish National Library, where it is now housed.

 

List of works

 

Collected Poetry

Spiro de l' pasio (1952)

La infana raso (1956)

Unufingraj melodioj (1960)

Humoroj (1969)

Rimleteroj (with Marjorie Boulton, 1976)

El unu verda vivo (1978)

En barko senpilota (1987)

Unu el ni (1992)

 

Anthologies

Angla antologio 1000-1800 (poetry editor, 1957)

Esperanta antologio (1958/1984)

25 jaroj (poetry editor, 1977)

Skota antologio (associate editor, 1978)

Sub signo de socia muzo (1987)

Nova Esperanta Krestomatio (1991)

Plena poemaro: Miĥalski (ed. 1994)

Tempo fuĝas (1996)

Translations from English

La balenodento , by Jack London (1952)

Epifanio , by Shakespeare (1977)

La urbo de terura nokto , by James Thomson (1977)

Don Johano, Kanto 1 , by Lord Byron (1979)

La robaioj de Omar Kajam , by Edward Fitzgerald (1980)

La sonetoj , de Shakespeare (1981)

Fenikso tro ofta , by Christopher Fry (1984)

Montara vilaĝo , by Chun-chan Je (1984)

La graveco de la Fideliĝo , by Oscar Wilde (1987)

La komedio de eraroj , by Shakespeare (with Asen M. Simeonov, 1987)

Omaĝoj. Poemtradukoj (1987)

Gazaloj , by Hafez (1988)

Spartako , by Leslie Mitchell (1993)

La stratoj de Aŝkelono , by Harry Harrison (1994)

Teri-strato , by Douglas Dunn (1995)

La kunularo de l' ringo , by J.R.R. Tolkien (1995)

La du turegoj , by J.R.R. Tolkien (1995)

La reveno de la reĝo, by J.R.R. Tolkien (1997)

La hobito , by J.R.R. Tolkien (poems and songs; with Christopher Gledhill, 2000)

Kantoj, poemoj kaj satiroj, by Robert Burns (with Reto Rossetti, 1977)

Jurgen, by James Branch Cabell (2001)

Aniaro, by Harry Martinson (from Swedish with Bertil Nilsson, 1979)

 

Song collections

Floroj sen kompar (with Margaret Hill, 1973), British folksongs translated into Esperanto

Kantanta mia bird (with Margaret Hill, 1973), British folksongs translated into Esperanto

Dum la noktoj (with Margaret kaj David Hill, 1976), original songs

Esperanto: A New Approach; (1965)

Paŝoj al plena posedo (1968)

A first course in Esperanto (1972)

Traduku! (1993)

Bibliografio de tradukoj el la angla lingvo (with E. Grimley Evans, 1996)

Essay collections

Facetoj de Esperanto (1976)

Pri lingvo kaj aliaj artoj (1978)

Enkonduko en la originalan literaturon de Esperanto (1979)

Vereco, distro, stilo (1981)

Kulturo kaj internacia lingvo (1986)

La fenomeno Esperanto (1988)

La skota lingvo, hodiaŭ kaj hieraŭ (1988)

Pajleroj kaj stoploj : elektitaj prozaĵoj (1997)