Lidia [Life of Lidia Zamenhof, Daughter of Esperanto by Wendy Heller]

On August 18 Lidia left Stockholm for Warsaw. Martha wrote: 'At five p.m. Lidia sailed. I introduced her to the captain, for this was the same ship in which I had crossed over to Sweden, and he said he would do everything for her comfort and happiness. He gave her about twenty long paper ribbons, those garlands in rainbow colors one throws from the deck. I caught them from her as she tossed them down, and holding the "rainbow" of colors - one of us at each end of this "arc" - we looked into each other's eyes, until my spiritual child moved out to sea, our Lidia!'

Lidia Zamenhof and Martha Root would never see each other again.

SIXTEEN

Forte, Kuraĝe, Elegante!

After the congress in Stockholm, Lidia retumed to France to begin new classes in the fall, this time in Chateaurenard, Orleans and Thiers. It was the end ofNovember 1934 whenshearrivedinThiers. Inspiteof bad weather which kept many away, a large audience filled the parterre and galleries of the Theatre Bazola for her introductory lesson. The curtain rose. On the stage stood the diminutive Lidia, her aparato or translator and two other Esperantists from Thiers who welcomed her.

A participant, M. Deculty, described the evening: 'She does not wish to give a class but to make conversation. Because the first mle of conversational etiquette is the introduction, she elegantly offers her visiting card, saying, "I am Miss Lidia Zamenhof".'

'The second rule is the introduction of the public. Having asked the occupation of several young people, she succeeds in making them understand and speak.

'Now she talks of linguistic diversity. Why do people not understand each other? Look: in the trees chimpanzee understands chimpanzee . . . Man has conquered space and time through radio and aviation, but before a man who speaks another tongue, he is as mute as a fish . . .

'Mankirid is drowning in a deluge of languages, it flounders and searches for an ark. Do they not know that ark exists? It proudly stands out, unafraid of the waves. It is our Esperanto . . .

'And now the lesson begins. Very skillful and effective is the method of our samideanino, and wondrously masterfully she teaches. Soon the mles are understood. Miraculously, one listens to all the participants loudly, elegantly respond to her frequent questions.' Lidia's students long remembered how she urged them to respond 'forte, kuraĝe, elegante!' (loudly, courageously, elegantly!), using the phrase that was the hallmark of the Cseh instructor, designed to encourage bashful - or lazy students to participate.

'The hour grew late. Wishing them good-night, Miss Zamenhof said she hoped that having awakened interest in our cause, the people of Thiers would kindly attend the three-week course. The long applause was proof of great success . . .'

While she was staying in Thiers, the Esperantists of Moulins invited her to speak in their city. She responded, to their delight, 'immediately', and one December day, Esperantists from Thiers, Vichy and Clermont-Ferrand formed a caravan of four cars decorated with green flags and Esperanto slogans to take her to Moulins. Local Esperantists were on hand to greet Lidia on her arrival and whisked her into one of the city's main restaurants, where, soon after, one person observed, 'one could see . . . a large group of people eating together, each wearing a little green star, whether on a jacket lapel or pinned to a dress, speaking a language unknown to the astonished diners around them'.

At three, in the universitepopulaire, the mayor ofMoulins introduced Lidia, who spoke on 'Esperanto - Universal Language'. The hall was full, and the audience included local dignitaries, professors and teachers.

'From the first sentences', one person observed, 'she knew how to carefully capture her audience and after several minutes each was astounded seeing that he understood, and often that the translator seemed almost unnecessary.'

She had been asked to give a Cseh lesson there. 'That lesson was masterful. In less than ten minutes she succeeded in getting the entire audience to speak Esperanto! Immediately after the questions, at first very simple, which she asked, each realized with surprise that he could answer, and even answer quite correctly. Soon the translator was abandoned and the questions become longer and longer, more and more difficult. However, all responded, and one may say with real enthusiasm.'

Lidia's fame was spreading through the Esperanto world, both for her teaching successes and for her outspoken advocacy of idealism and peace. Although now she was busier than ever, hurrying from one town to another to teach courses, she was increasingly called on to serve in various, mostly honorary, positions. She had been a 'correspondent' of the Academy of Esperanto and now was elected to the prestigious Language Committee. Her name appeared on the editorial boards of several Esperanto periodicals including Pola Esperantisto and La Ligilo ('The Bond'), a magazine for blind Esperantists, to which she contributed several articles. The Association of Blind Esperantists named her its honorary president, as did the University Esperantist Circle of Lyon.