Lidia

When in 1976 I first became interested in writing about Lidia Zamenhof, I knew very little about her and next to nothing about Esperanto, the language her father had created. I had read an article by Ugo and Angeline Giachery about Lidia, and it had evoked my immediate sympathy and interest, since, as a Baha'f from a Russian and German Jewish background, I had some things in common with Lidia. I was curious to find out more about her. How, I wondered, had a young woman of her era made the decision to forgo marriage and, during the difficult days of the Great Depression, to devote her life to being an itinerant teacher of the language invented by her father? And, given her extraordinary devotion to the Esperanto movement, how and why had Lidia Zamenhof embraced the Baha'f Faith?

There was no biography ofLidia available. I decided to write one; but it was not until 1980 that I was able to begin research for the project. Then I was faced by the question of where to begin. At first I despaired when I learned that the Zamenhof home, with all the family's papers, had been destroyed in the war. Nevertheless, I discovered, a significant amount of material had been preserved in archives in several countries as well as by individuals who had known Lidia and on whom she had made such an impression that they could not bear to throw away her letters, even after half a century had passed. In one case at least, much information was preserved intentionally with an eye to the future; during Lidia's visit to the United States, Mrs Della Quinlan persuaded her to leave behind the papers she had accumulated during her stay and donate them to the National Baha'i Archives in Wilmette, Illinois, for future researchers. This researcher would like to acknowledge with gratitude the foresight of the late Mrs Quinlan.

The search for the answers to my questions about Lidia Zamenhof led me to explore paths I had not foreseen when I began my project; in fact, through research trips and correspondence, that search took me all over the world. I began with the one Esperantist I knew of: Mrs Roan Orloff Stone. This proved to be the best thing I could have done. Not only did Mrs Stone provide many leads which eventually led to further sources of information, but because she had been a close friend of

Lidia's she contributed invaluable personal glimpses, shared her letters with me, and granted me long interviews; later, she patiently reviewed my Esperanto translations and answered my many questions. For her kind and essential assistance I owe a great debt of gratitude.

I quickly realized that to do research about Lidia I would simply have to learn Esperanto. Although I had studied several other languages, I wasn't looking forward to the prospect of having to learn yet another language just in order to write a book. But I was surprised to find I could soon read Esperanto better than languages I had studied for years. Being used to associating other meanings with particular sound combinations, I found some of Esperanto's terms odd at first, but the strangeness soon wore off. I became impressed by the ideals underlying Esperanto as well as the tenacity of the language, now nearly a hundred years old, to.endure - to withstand schism, war and persecution - to face the apathy and mockery of the general public, yet attract the praise of some of the most esteemed scientific, political, literary and religious figures of the age.

Esperantists often praise the practical usefulness of the language as a neutral medium of intemational communication, but the real meaning of this did not impress itself on me until I found myself in need of a certain piece of information about Lidia which could only be provided by a certain person in Sweden. Swedish was not one of my languages and my correspondent did not know English. But no matter; Esperanto gave us a bridge to communicate with one another. Time and again this occurred, and the instant collapse of the language barrier almost left an audible crash. Without Esperanto I would never have been able to communicate with many of the people, of various nationalities, whose reminiscences provided the information for this book.

Perhaps because the book is in English it is easy to overlook an important point which readers should be aware of: a great many of the primary and secondary sources I drew on were in Esperanto, including nearly all those regarding Lidia herself. For the most part, Lidia lived her life in Esperanto: she wrote, gave speeches, confided her deepest thoughts to friends, all in Esperanto. Those who leap to criticize the language of Dr Zamenhof as not being a living or a cultural tongue should note that Lidia Zamenhof not only lived and worked in Esperanto but expressed herself eloquently in the language, in images that havenotlost their vividness, or in many cases, their relevance, after halfa century.