Antoni Grabowski

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Antoni Grabowski (born June 11, 1857 in Nowe Dobra near Chełmno , Poland , † July 4, 1921 in Warsaw ) was a Polish chemical engineer and early Esperanto activist, whose translations had a significant influence on the development of Esperanto into a literary language took.

education and profession

Memorial plaque in Wroclaw

Soon after his birth, the Nowe Dobre family moves to Toruń . Due to the poverty of his parents, Antoni has to start working after finishing primary school . Nevertheless, driven by a great willingness to learn, he prepares himself completely independently for the entrance examination for high school , which he passes with excellent results. At the “Nikolaus Kopernikus” grammar school in Thorner, his knowledge is way ahead of his peers and is twice promoted to a higher grade. In 1879 the family's financial situation improved, and after graduating from high school, Grabowski studied philosophy and natural sciences at the University of Breslau . He then worked as a chemical engineer in an internship in Zawiercie and in some places that are now part of the Czech Republic, and finally as manager of a textile factory in Ivanovo-Voznjesensk 250 km northeast of Moscow.

Meanwhile, he continues his in-depth study of chemical problems. A multitude of inventions and technological innovations make him known among experts all over Europe. Grabowski is appointed to the commission charged with working out the Polish technical terminology . A few years later, in 1906, his “Słownik chemiczny”, the first Polish chemistry dictionary, appeared.

Esperanto and literature

Antoni Grabowski developed a profound literary interest during his university days. He is a member of the Literary Slavic Society ( Towarzystwo Literacko-Słowianskie ). But Grabowski's commitment is by no means limited to the Polish language and literature; little by little he learned a considerable number of languages ​​and became a true polyglot . Later he will speak nine other languages ​​in addition to his mother tongue and use at least 15 more passively. Against this background, it is not surprising that the student Grabowski is also interested in the idea of ​​an international language.

This role was claimed by Volapük at the time , so Grabowski learns it. However, when he visits Johann Martin Schleyer , the author of this language project, it turns out that Schleyer is not able to speak Volapük fluently. Both ended up talking in German. After this disappointment, Grabowski gave up dealing with Volapük, but not the idea of ​​an international planned language .

In 1887 he studied the brochure “ Dr. Esperanto. International language. Preface and complete textbook ”by Ludwik Zamenhof , in which the latter presents his language project, which will soon be known as“ Esperanto ”. Grabowski is impressed by the transparent structure of Esperanto and by the ability to express himself surprisingly quickly in this language. He travels to Warsaw, visits Zamenhof and the first oral conversation in Esperanto ensues.

Just like Zamenhof, Grabowski is aware of the importance that literature has for the development of languages ​​and especially for that of Esperanto, which at that time was just about to embark on the path from the language project to a fully functional language in all areas of life.

Grabowski soon became active in this sense; In 1888 his translation of “The Snowstorm” by Alexander Puschkin appears , followed by “Die Geschwister” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in 1889 , to name just the first publications.

At the beginning of the 1890s, Grabowski was dissatisfied with the slowness with which Esperanto was spreading and, assuming that the reasons were due to imperfections in the language, he advocated reforms. In the vote that took place in 1894, however, he voted against reforms and in future stuck to the basics of the language, the so-called Fundamento de Esperanto .

Grabowski has been chairman of the Warsaw Esperantist Society, founded in 1904, and the Polish Esperanto Society that emerged from it in 1908. Since the same year he has been director of the grammar section of the Esperanto Academy . He publishes articles and lectures on Esperanto and organizes language courses.

From 1908 to 1914 Grabowski taught the first Esperanto courses in (some Warsaw) schools. As early as 1908 he described in an article the particular suitability of Esperanto as an introduction ( propaedeutic ) to language teaching . He uses concrete examples to show the extent to which previous Esperanto lessons increase the learning success in French and Latin lessons (a statement that still seemed completely incomprehensible to the public at that time!).

The anthology “Vom Parnass der Völker”, published in 1913, comprises 116 poems representing 30 languages ​​and cultures. Six of the poems were written in Esperanto, 110 were translated.

As a result of the events of the First World War , Grabowski was separated from his family members who had fled to Russia . He remains sick and lonely in Warsaw. In this situation he translates the Polish national epic "Mr. Thaddäus" (" Pan Tadeusz ") by Adam Mickiewicz . In the context of his accurate and true-to-form translation, he tests the latent potentials of the planned language and thus gives significant impulses to the further development of Esperanto-language poetry.

The now chronically heart patient cannot afford appropriate medical treatment. He lives in dire financial straits. When his family returns after the end of the war, he is almost physically emaciated. Nevertheless, he continued his work for Esperanto undeterred until he died in 1921 after a heart attack.

See also

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personal data
SURNAME Grabowski, Antoni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish chemical engineer and former Esperanto activist
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Nowe Dobra near Chełmno , Poland
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1921
Place of death Warsaw , Poland