Esperantist of the Year
Encyclopedia
The Esperantist of the Year (Esperantisto de la Jaro) is an honorary designation bestowed each year by the editors of the Esperanto
-language monthly La Ondo de Esperanto
(English: The Wave of Esperanto). The award recipient is selected by an international jury led by Halina Gorecka
, the Russian publisher of the magazine.
The Esperantist of the Year award was created in 1998.
In 2001 Osmo Buller and Claude Piron
received an equal number of votes, but according to rules in effect that year, Buller was declared the winner, as more nominators had proposed his name.
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
-language monthly La Ondo de Esperanto
La Ondo de Esperanto
La Ondo de Esperanto is an illustrated Esperanto monthly published monthly in the Russian Baltic Sea enclave of Kaliningrad ....
(English: The Wave of Esperanto). The award recipient is selected by an international jury led by Halina Gorecka
Halina Górecka
Halina Górecka née Richter is a former Polish and German sprinter and a four-time olympian and an Olympic gold and bronze medal winner and a world record holder in women's 4x100 m relay...
, the Russian publisher of the magazine.
The Esperantist of the Year award was created in 1998.
Laureates to date
- 1998: William AuldWilliam AuldWilliam Auld was a Scottish poet, author, translator and magazine editor who wrote chiefly in Esperanto. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999, 2004, and 2006 making him the first and only person to be nominated for works in Esperanto...
(1924–2006), a Scottish poet and translator who wrote chiefly in Esperanto - 1999: Kep EnderbyKep EnderbyKeppel Earl "Kep" Enderby QC is a former Australian politician and retired judge. Enderby was a member of the House of Representatives, representing the Australian Labor Party between 1970 and 1975, and became a senior cabinet minister in the Gough Whitlam government...
(b. 1926 in Dubbo, AustraliaAustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
), former president of World Esperanto AssociationWorld Esperanto AssociationThe World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
(UEA) - 2000: three candidates received an equal number of votes and shared the award:
- Hans Bakker (b. 1937 in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
) - Maŭro La Torre (1946–2010), an ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
specialist in computational linguisticsComputational linguisticsComputational linguistics is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the statistical or rule-based modeling of natural language from a computational perspective....
) - Jouko Lindstedt (b. 1955), a Finnish professor of Slavonic studies
- Hans Bakker (b. 1937 in the Netherlands
- 2001: Osmo BullerOsmo BullerOsmo Buller, M.A. is a Finnish Esperantist . He is general director of the World Esperanto Association ....
(b. 1950 in TaivalkoskiTaivalkoskiTaivalkoski is a municipality of Finland, it is located in the Province of Oulu and is part of the Northern Ostrobothnia region.The municipality has a population of and covers an area of ofwhich is water. The population density is....
, FinlandFinlandFinland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
), president of World Esperanto AssociationWorld Esperanto AssociationThe World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
(UEA) - 2002: Michel Duc-GoninazMichel Duc-GoninazMichel Duc-Goninaz is known worldwide for his 2002 revision of La Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto ....
(b. 1933 in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, now in Aix-en-ProvenceAix-en-ProvenceAix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...
), for his editorship of a comprehensive Esperanto dictionary, the Nova Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de EsperantoPlena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto240px|thumb|The 2004 edition of La Plena Ilustrita Vortaro.La Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto is a monolingual dictionary of the language Esperanto...
(NPIV) - 2003: Dafydd ab Iago (b. 1968 in AbergavennyAbergavennyAbergavenny , meaning Mouth of the River Gavenny, is a market town in Monmouthshire, Wales. It is located 15 miles west of Monmouth on the A40 and A465 roads, 6 miles from the English border. Originally the site of a Roman fort, Gobannium, it became a medieval walled town within the Welsh Marches...
, WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, now living in BrusselsBrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
) - 2004: Helmar FrankHelmar FrankHelmar Gunter Frank, born February 19, 1933, is a German mathematician and pedagogist. He was among the first scientists to apply mathematical methods in teaching and psychology...
(b. 1933 in WaiblingenWaiblingenWaiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital of the Rems-Murr district...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) - 2005: Povilas Jegorovas (b. 1955 in JoniškisJoniškisJoniškis is a city in northern Lithuania with a population of about 11,150. It is located 40 kilometers north of Šiauliai and 14 kilometers south of the Lithuania–Latvia border...
, LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
) for his activism in LithuaniaLithuaniaLithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
on the occasion of that year's World Congress of EsperantoWorld Congress of EsperantoThe World Congress of Esperanto has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run of more than a hundred years. The congresses have been held since 1905 every year, except during World Wars I and II...
in VilniusVilniusVilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County... - 2006: Bertilo WennergrenBertilo WennergrenBertilo Wennergren [VEN-er-gren] , born 4 October 1956, is a Swedish Esperantist currently living in Seoul, South Korea...
(b. 1956 in SwedenSwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
) for his masterwork, the Plena Manlibro de Esperanta Gramatiko, an exhaustive treatment of Esperanto grammar - 2007: Peter Zilvar (b. 1950), a GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
living in Herzberg am HarzHerzberg am HarzHerzberg am Harz is a town in the Osterode district of Lower Saxony, Germany.- History :Herzberg castle was first mentioned in 1154. The town was part of the state of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, and the castle was for some time used as a residence by the dukes... - 2008: Ilona Koutny (b. 1953 in HungaryHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
) for her continuing competent and successful guidance of the Interlinguistic Studies department at the Adam Mickiewicz University in PoznańPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be... - 2009: Aleksander Korĵenkov (Александр Корженков, b. 1958), a RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n living in KaliningradKaliningradKaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea... - 2010: Katalin Kováts (b. 1957), a HungarianHungaryHungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
living in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
In 2001 Osmo Buller and Claude Piron
Claude Piron
Claude Piron was a psychologist and a translator for the United Nations from 1956 to 1961....
received an equal number of votes, but according to rules in effect that year, Buller was declared the winner, as more nominators had proposed his name.