Cecil C. Goldsmith

Cecil Charles Goldsmith (born November 16, 1889 in Gloucester , † March 2, 1972 in Sydney , Australia) was a British language teacher and general secretary of the Internacia Esperanto-Ligo .

Life

After studying at Birmingham University, Goldsmith served as an officer in the British Army, with which he took part in the First World War.

After learning the world auxiliary language Esperanto in 1907 , Goldsmith became intensely involved in the international Esperanto movement. He became secretary of the Esperanto Society in Birmingham and later administrator of the British Esperanto Association and organized the British Esperanto Congresses in Birmingham (1920), Leamington (1923), Canterbury (1929) and Birmingham (1931).

In 1936 Goldsmith became general secretary of the Internacia Esperanto-Ligo (IEL) in London. In this position he organized the Esperanto World Congresses of 1937, 1938 and 1939.

Due to his work in the field of international understanding, Goldsmith came into the sights of the National Socialist police officers at the end of the 1930s, who classified him as an enemy of the state: In the spring of 1940, the Reich Security Main Office in Berlin put him on the special wanted list GB , a directory of people who were killed in the event of a successful invasion and occupation of the British Isles by the Wehrmacht should be located and arrested by the occupying troops following special SS commandos with special priority.

In old age Goldsmith moved to Australia, where he became Secretary General of the Australian Esperanto Association.

Goldsmith married Lily Jullie for the second time in 1971.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Entry on Goldsmith in the special wanted list GB (reproduced on the website of the Imperial War Museum in London)