Lidia

from Western European languages, which shared linguistic roots with Esperanto, but from Chinese, Japanese, Armenian, Hungarian, Russian and Polish, among others. The work of translators had shown Esperanto's potential for literary expression, as well as its ability to make a diversity of national literatures accessible to a wide inter- national audience through a single translation.

After World War I, original Esperanto literature began to flourish. Several literary 'schools' sprang up, the most important of which was the Budapest School, whose major figures were two Hungarians: the poet Kalman Kalocsay, a medical doctor by profession; and Julio Baghy, a poet, novelist and actor. The literary journal of the Budapest School was Literatura Mondo (Literary World), which published some of Lidia's short stories during the 1930S.

After Klara's death, the Esperantists hoped that members of the Zamenhof family would continue to take part in the Esperanto movement personally. While no one could replace Ludwik Zamenhof in their hearts, some hoped that Adam would carry on his father's work for Esperanto as he had followed in his father's footsteps in medicine. Adam knew the language well and had been active in the movement during his school years, translating works of Pushkin and helping his father with correspondence and the Directory of Esperantists. But now Adam's medical practice left him no time for Esperanto activities.

Zofia also knew Esperanto fluently. Like her brother, while she was growing up she had helped her father, especially with his library. Although she kept informed about the movement and went to the yearly congresses, she too was busy with her medical practice.

Shortly after Klara's death a Warsaw Esperantist, Edward Wiesenfeld, published a collection of biographical sketches of the Zamenhof family called Galerio de Zamenhofoj (Gallery ofZamenhofs). Beginning in January 1925, it ran in installments in the intemational Esperanto newspaper Heroldo de Esperanto (Herald of Esperanto). In it Wiesenfeld gently chided the young Dr Adam Zamenhof for not taking over his father's role in Esperanto. He also lamented that Zofia 'does not actively take part in Esperanto life'.

In the edition of Heroldo for February 14, the chapter about Lidia appeared. Wiesenfeld, who had been present when Lidia spoke up at the Vienna congress, described the twenty-one-year-old 'Miss Lili' as 'in character and temperament. . . typical Zamenhof, only somewhat unrefined, which is explained by her youth . . .' 'Esperanto interests her,' Wiesenfeld wrote, 'and she is the only Zamenhof child active in the intemational language . . . After retuming from Vienna, her fervor for Esperanto grew even more, and we hope to have in her one of the most fervent pioneers of the Esperanto cause on Polish soil.' Wiesenfeld's perceptive conclusion was: 'The youngest, but the most promising.'

One wonders what might have made him call Lidia 'unrefined'. Perhaps that independence of spirit which had made her a determined and sometimes stubborn child now seeitied too forthright and assertive for a young lady. Though Wiesenfeld excused her rough edges as a sign of immaturity, Lidia seems to have been a serious young woman who was deeply concemed with the gravest issues of the time, and who had little use for frivolous pursuits.

By the summer of 1925 the blond braids of childhood were gone. And the youthful, tousled curls she had worn, with a defiant expression, in the photograph that appeared in Gallery of Zamenhofs had been replaced by the short, bobbed style of the 1920S. She had inherited much of her father's looks, unlike her sister Zofia, who resembled their mother. Lidia was quite short - about five feet - and petite, with her father's thoughtful blue eyes. In later years, people would say she was *exactly his image'. She had a prominent, jutting chin which accentuated her air of determination.

Lidia had finished her course work at the University of Warsaw. In the autumn, she would take her exams and receive the degree of Magister Juris - Master of Law. But in Poland a degree in law did not lead as directly to a profession as a degree in medicine. Thc Polish bar association was strict about admitting Jews - very few were accepted. If she wanted to pursue a career as a lawyer, she would have to work in a law office for several years before she could begin to practice. Because studying law had been her mother's idea, and she did not want to become a lawyer, she probably did not give the idea much thought. Perhaps that summer, as she worried about her final examinations and anticipated graduation, she wondered what she should do afterward.