Wilhelm Molly (1838–1919) was a doctor,
philatelist,
activist
Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...
, and
Esperantist.
He was the chief medical doctor of the
Vieille Montagne mining company.
As an avid philatelist, he tried to organize a local postal service with its own stamps. This enterprise was quickly thwarted by Belgian intervention.
In 1908, Molly proposed to make
Neutral Moresnet
Neutral Moresnet (, , , ) was a small Belgian–Prussian condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1920 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdom ...
the world's first state with
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 ...
as its official language, named ''Amikejo'' ( ''Place of Friendship'').
See also
*
History of Esperanto
History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...
References
1838 births
1919 deaths
People from Wetzlar
People from the Rhine Province
German philatelists
{{Philately-stub