Karl Maier (1901 – 25 July 2000) was a German Esperantist and member of the

Universala Esperanto Asocio 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 ...

, for more than 50 years. Maier learned Esperanto in 1924. After emigration from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1930, he was living with Esperanto enthusiasts among

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Between 1935 and 1955 he lived in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. After his return to Germany, he managed to unite several esperantists, reaching over 300 subscribers for the Chinese magazin El Popola Ĉinio (The Chinese People); promoted the regular Esperanto conventions in East Berlin (beginning in 1960) and fought for the legalization of the Esperanto language in the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

Legacy

He died in Berlin at the age of 99. Maier’s testament established that his fortune should be donated to the Esperanto-Ligo Berlin and the Esperanto Movement in China. Resolving this legal situation took several years to the league. The Berlin part of the inheritance was invested to build the Germana Esperanta Kultura Centro, new home of the Berlin Esperanto Movement.

References

*Ulrich Lins, ''Mit 99 ein glücklicher Mensch - Karl Maiers langes Leben in Ostasien und Deutschland'', in ''Esperanto aktuell'', March, 2000. pp. 12–13 *Fritz Wollenberg, ''Ni funebras pri Karl Maier (1901-2000)'', in ''Berlina Informilo'', September 2000. German Esperantists 1901 births 2000 deaths East German culture German male writers German expatriates in the United States German expatriates in Mexico German expatriates in Japan German expatriates in China {{Germany-writer-stub