Does anyone know what Zamenhof's first two names actually were? They seem usually to be given in different forms, depending on the language being used. E.g., Ludoviko Lazaro in Esperanto, Louis-Lazare in French, etc. But what is the correct form? I've heard he was called Lazar as a child. --
Zundark, 2001 Sep 14
My resources claim he is Polish, and his name is Lazarus Ludwig Zamenhof.
Britannica says Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, so I think I'll use that. However, his surname wasn't really spelt
Zamenhof either, that's just how he preferred to write it. It's often stated that he was Polish, but this is meaningless. Ethnically he was a Jew. The places he lived in (Białystok and Warsaw) are now in Poland, but at the time they were in the Russian Empire. His family were Russian-speaking. He called his homeland -- the area around Białystok --
Litovujo (that is, Lithuania). --
Zundark, 2001 Sep 15.
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