Klara Zamenhof

Polish Esperantist

L. L. Zamenhof

(m. 1887)

ChildrenAdam, Zofia, and Lidia

Klara Zamenhof (née Silbernik; 6 October 1863 – 6 December 1924) was a Polish Esperantist. She was married to L. L. Zamenhof, the inventor of the Esperanto language.

Biography

She was born on 6 October 1863 in Kaunas, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire as Kovno.^[1] She was the oldest daughter of Alexander Sender Silbernik and Golda Silbernik, wealthy Jewish merchants from Kovno.^[2]

Contributions to Esperanto

After her husband's premature death on 14 April 1917, she took over the promotion of Esperanto. She continued the development of the community centred around the language and supported her daughter Lidia, who trained as an Esperanto teacher in Europe and the United States.

Personal life

She married Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof in 1887,^[3] and raised three children: Adam, Lidia, and Zofia. All three were murdered in the Holocaust.

She died in Warsaw on 6 December 1924, and is buried in the Jewish Cemetery there.

References

^ Christer Kiselman. "ESPERANTO: ITS ORIGINS AND EARLY HISTORY" (PDF). math.uu.se.
^ "Voyager en Pologne à travers sa culture et ses US".
^ "100th anniversary of the death of L. ZAMENHOF, the creator of the Esperanto". PolishCulture.eu.