Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language

The Delegation for the Adoption of an International Auxiliary Language (French: Délégation pour l'Adoption d'une Langue Auxiliaire Internationale) was a body of academics convened in the early part of the 1900s (decade) to decide on the issue of which international auxiliary language should be chosen for international use. The ultimate decision of the committee charged by the Delegation was to adopt the Esperanto language, but with certain reforms. The result became a distinct language known as Ido.

The Delegation was founded in 1901 by French academics Louis Couturat and Léopold Leau, who had noted the language difficulties arising among international bodies convening during the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Working with European esperantists, they gathered support for the Delegation from professional societies, companies, and universities.

Among the chief aims of the Delegation were to select a language to be taught alongside "natural languages" and allow written and spoken communication in an international environment. Three conditions were laid out for the language to be chosen:

In June 1907, the Delegation convened and refused to decide the ultimate issue, but rather, at Couturat's insistence, created a committee to make the decision.

The Delegation Committee arranged to meet in Paris in October 1907. Supporters of Esperanto, including its author L. L. Zamenhof, warned Couturat that the committee had no authority to impose an international language, but they had received assurances from Couturat that Esperanto would be chosen anyway. The members of the Committee were:

The committee heard from representatives of language projects, including Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano in support of his own Latino sine flexione. Esperanto was represented by Louis de Beaufront, an active supporter of the language. Other languages, such as Bolak, Spokil and Idiom Neutral received the attention of the committee.

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