Louis-Christophe Zaleski-Zamenhof
| Louis-Christophe Zaleski-Zamenhof | |
|---|---|
Louis-Christophe Zaleski-Zamenhof and Marjorie Boulton, another prominent Esperantist (2003).
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| Born |
Ludwik Zamenhof 23 January 1925 Warsaw, Poland |
| Residence | France |
| Nationality | Polish |
| Parents |
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| Relatives |
Zofia Zamenhof (aunt) Lidia Zamenhof L. L. Zamenhof (grandfather) |
Louis-Christophe Zaleski-Zamenhof (born Ludwik Krzysztof Zamenhof, 23 January 1925) is a civil and marine engineer, specializing in the design of structural steel and concrete construction. He is a grandson of the Polish-Jewish L. L. Zamenhof, the originator of the international auxiliary language Esperanto. Since the 1960s he has lived in France.
He was born in Warsaw. After his father Adam Zamenhof was arrested and shot to death by the Nazis occupying Poland, he and his mother Wanda barely escaped deportation to the Nazi death camp at Treblinka where his aunts Zofia Zamenhof and Lidia Zamenhof were murdered. The teenager remained in hiding within Poland under the false name of 'Krzysztof Zaleski', a name he maintained afterwards in remembrance of the ordeal.
During that time, he worked in a tomato field together with a Pole who happened to speak Esperanto; this person once tried to recruit him to the cause, asking him: Ĉu vi konas Esperanton? ("Do you know Esperanto?"). 'Christoph' blurted out: Ho jes, mi konas; ĝin inventis mia avo! ("Oh yes, I know it; my grandfather invented it!") He immediately feared that he had been indiscreet and would be denounced and arrested, but nothing untoward occurred.
After earning a doctorate in civil and marine engineering, he began work as a professional engineer. Beginning in Poland after World War II and since the 1960s in France, he has designed precast concrete structures and projects ranging from deep-sea oil rigs, sports complexes, and the Charles de Gaulle Memorial, which dominates the village of Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. He has also taught the theory and techniques of land and sea construction at various academic institutions.
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