Lena Karpunina (1963 — November 4, 2013; ) was an

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 ...

-language writer in

Tajikistan Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...

(then a part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

). Born in what is now

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, she grew up in the Tajik capital of

Dushanbe Dushanbe ( tg, Душанбе, ; ; russian: Душанбе) is the capital and largest city of Tajikistan. , Dushanbe had a population of 863,400 and that population was largely Tajik. Until 1929, the city was known in Russian as Dyushambe (r ...

, then was forced to leave for Germany due to the

Tajikistani Civil War The Tajikistani Civil War ( tg, Ҷанги шаҳрвандии Тоҷикистон, translit=Jangi shahrvandiyi Tojikiston / Çangi shahrvandiji Toçikiston; russian: Гражданская война в Таджикистане), also known ...

. From 2010 until her death, she was a member of the

Akademio de Esperanto The Akademio de Esperanto (AdE; en, Academy of Esperanto, link=yes) is an independent body of Esperanto speakers who steward the evolution of said language by keeping it consistent with the ''Fundamento de Esperanto'' in accordance with the Decla ...

, chosen primarily in recognition of her work in the field of literature.

Life

Jelena Karpunina, known as Lena, was born in 1963 in

Kaluga Kaluga ( rus, Калу́га, p=kɐˈɫuɡə), a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast in Russia, stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: Kaluga's most famous resident, the space travel pioneer Konstantin Tsiol ...

, Soviet Union, in what is now Russia. She grew up in Dushanbe, the capital of what is now Tajikistan. After graduating from in 1986, she worked for various businesses in Tajikistan as a motor engineer. In 1988, she began to learn

. She traveled frequently to Esperanto meetings and congresses. Then, in 1993, during the Tajikistani Civil War, she moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

, where in 1997 she began studying

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

linguistics at

Humboldt University Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of ...

. While in Germany, she married Gerd Bussing, a German Esperantist. She died in 2013 in Berlin.

Literary writing

Karpunina was known for her contributions to

Esperanto literature Literature in the Esperanto language began before the first official publication in Esperanto in 1887: the language's creator, L. L. Zamenhof, translated poetry and prose into the language as he was developing it as a test of its completeness and ...

, which she began writing in the early 1990s. She published two books in Esperanto, both short story collections: ''La Bato'' ("The Blow") in 2001 and ''Neokazinta Amo'' ("Unrequited Love") in 2007. Both were published as part of the , a series published by the . She also contributed to the Esperanto magazine ''

Monato ''Monato'' is a monthly magazine produced in Esperanto which carries articles on politics, culture and economics. It is printed in Belgium and distributed to readers in 65 countries. The title simply means "month". It has 100 correspondents in ...

'', writing under the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

"REGO." Her work frequently drew from her childhood experiences in Tajikistan, and her short stories have been described as "humanist" and "modern." Her work earned her various awards in the

Universal 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 th ...

's artistic competitions. In 2010, she was elected a member of the Akademio de Esperanto, and she was also a member of the Akademio Literatura de Esperanto, often contributing to its literary magazine '.

References

External links

"En Granda Urbo"
by Lena Karpunina

by Lena Karpunina {{DEFAULTSORT:Karpunina, Lena 1963 births 2013 deaths 21st-century Russian women writers Tajikistani women writers People from Kaluga Writers of Esperanto literature Akademio de Esperanto members Russian Esperantists Humboldt University of Berlin alumni