Edmond Privat (17 August 1889 – 28 August 1962) was a

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

Esperantist An Esperantist ( eo, esperantisto) is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto ...

. A

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...

, university professor, author, journalist and peace activist, he was a graduate of the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by John Calvin as a theological seminary. It remained focused on theology until the 17th centu ...

and a lecturer for the World Peace Foundation. His collective works consist of original

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

poem Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in ...

stories Story or stories may refer to: Common uses * Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events) ** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting * Story (American English), or storey (British ...

, textbooks and books about the

Esperanto movement The Esperanto movement, less commonly referred to as Esperantism ( eo, Esperantismo), is a movement to disseminate the use of the planned international language Esperanto.See the definition in theDeklaracio pri la Esenco de la Esperantismo ("Bu ...

Esperanto activity

Having already learned

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

in childhood, Privat and fellow student

Hector Hodler Hector Hodler (1 October 1887, in Geneva – 31 March 1920, in Leysin, Switzerland) was a Swiss Esperantist who had a strong influence on the early Esperanto movement. Hodler was a son of the Swiss painter Ferdinand Hodler, who after a period o ...

founded in 1903 the journal ''Juna Esperantisto'' (The Young Esperantist). Though still an adolescent in 1905, he walked 600 kilometres to participate in the first

World Congress of Esperanto The World Esperanto Congress ( eo, Universala Kongreso de Esperanto, UK) is an annual Esperanto convention. It has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run for 113 years. The congresses have be ...

Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, where he spoke with mature eloquence. At the 1907 International Socialist Congress, Privat advocated the use of Esperanto by the International Socialist Bureau in Brussels. Privat served as a committee member of the

World Esperanto Association The Universal Esperanto Association ( eo, Universala Esperanto-Asocio, UEA), also known as the World Esperanto Association, is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with 5501 individual members in 121 countries and 9215 t ...

(in Esperanto "UEA: Universala Esperanto-Asocio") beginning in 1912. From 1920 until 1934, he was editor-in-chief of Esperanto's eponymous official magazine. From 1924 until 1938 he was president of the UEA and at the same time president of the International Central Committee. He resigned after a scandal. Privat advanced the international Esperanto organization inside and outside UEA. His works '' History of the Esperanto language'' (in two volumes) and ''

The Life of Zamenhof ''The Life of Zamenhof'' is a biography of L. L. Zamenhof, the founder of Esperanto, written in Esperanto by Edmond Privat. The first edition was in 1920 with 208 pages, and the second edition was in 1923 with 109 pages. Titles of the chapters ...

'' made him one of the most important historians of Esperanto. As the first historian of Esperanto and Zamenhof's first biographer, he used his connections within Swiss academia to further Esperanto. He authored a linguistic study ''Esprimo de sentoj en Esperanto (Expression of feelings in Esperanto)'', is the author of the lyrical '' Ginevra'' and of the poem anthology ''Tra l'silento (Through the Silence)''. Also, he wrote books teaching Esperanto, ''Karlo'' and ''Course Reader''. During the years 1923–1926, Privat was a vice-delegate of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. He presented Esperanto at the League of Nations, at the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

(ILO) and at the Universal Telegraph Union. He was a brilliant organizer, and arranged many international conferences about Esperanto instruction in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

(1922). He became a Quaker in 1936. He was a very spiritual person with a wide open heart to the Unity of Religions, as we can see in one of his best books "Sagesse de l'Orient au dela des Religions", published around 1945, where we take us in a tour around the different religions and spiritual movements, ending with his appreciation of Gandhi.

Selected WorksGoogle Books for Edmond Privat
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*''Esperanto at a Glance'' (1908) *''Esperanto in Fifty Lessons'' (1908) *''Karlo'' (reading book, 1909) *''At the Heart of Europe'' (brochure, 1909) *''A Living Language of a Living People'' (1910) *''About Esperanto Literature'' (1912) * ''The Last Kiss'' (1912) *''Through the Silence'' (original poems), 1912) *'' Ginevra'' (original drama-legend in verse, 1913) *''Course reader'' (1913) *''History of the Esperanto Language'' (two volumes, 1912, 1927) *''

'' (1920) *''Expression of Senses in Esperanto'' (1931) linguistic study *''Conduct between Peoples'' (philosophy, 1934) psychological study of international problems *''Aux Indes avec Gandhi'' 1934 *''Le Chancelier Décapité: St. Thomas More.'' (1935) *''Les Anglais, des pirates aux Prophètes'' (1939) *''Sagesse de l'Orient au dela des Religions'' (spirituality, 1945) *''Federal Experience'' (1958) *''Collective Works of Youth'' (1960) (includes ''Through the Silence'') *''Adventures of a Pioneer'' (1963) amusing stories about serious encounters and events *''Life of Gandhi'' (1967) *''Two Speeches''

Sources

:''This article is taken in large part from the Edmond Privat article on the Esperanto Wikipedia.
The Esperanto Book: Appendix 4
Online. September 18, 2007.

Online. September 18, 2007. *Forster, Peter Glover. ''The Esperanto Movement ''
Google Books
Online. September 18, 2007. *Matthias, Ulrich. ''Esperanto - The New Latin for the Church and for Ecumenism''

Online September 18, 2007.

Online. September 18, 2007.

External links

Original registration of the voice of Privat at the convention of SES in 1954 (mp3-file from the CDELI Sound Archive)
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Privat, Edmond Swiss Esperantists Writers of Esperanto literature Esperanto history Presidents of the Universal Esperanto Association Writers from Geneva University of Geneva alumni 1889 births 1962 deaths Converts to Quakerism Swiss Quakers

Esperanto activity

Selected WorksGoogle Books for Edmond Privat/ref>

Sources

External links

Selected WorksGoogle Books for Edmond Privat
/ref>