Esperanto
Author: David Poulson

The Famous Fifty. Part One

Author: David Poulson
Published on: January 7, 2000

A Happy New Year to all readers of the Esperanto Topic at Suite 101, now in its third calendar year.

The next two articles will deal exclusively with books and authors. Then, in February, I will be dealing with "Esperanto and Music," with the emphasis on popular music.

However, my first task this year is to give the solution to the puzzle which I set in my previous Topic article as a challenge to my more erudite readers.

Armand Su

The lines of poetry which I quoted in that puzzle alluding to the brutalisation of a bust of Beethoven, and the murder by image of Marjorie Boulton, came from a poem written by Edwin de Kock entitled: "Armand Su Liberigita."

Edwin de Kock, from South Africa, and Armand Su, from China, are both outstanding Esperanto poets. The incident in question referred to the malicious destruction of Su's library and his personal property by the hooligans of the Red Guard after his arrest in, I think, 1968.

Su almost died in prison but was finally released in 1978 and was completely exonerated of any crime. However, his health was ruined and he died at a relatively early age after a long illness.

Marjorie Boulton was a good friend of Armand Su and sent him copies of all of her books, which, unfortunately, were destroyed along with her photograph.

I will have a lot more to say about this affair - and certainly about Armand Su - when I deal with the subject of Esperanto and China. But now I want to return to my discussion of Marjorie Boulton's book:Faktoj kaj Fantazioj.

Fifty Famous Writers

At the very end of her book, Marjorie Boulton provides a list of 50 names of Esperanto writers and translators which she unreservedly recommends to "progressive" or "intermediate" students who wish to develop their knowledge of Esperanto by studying exemplary works of literature.

I am making this selection of recommended authors available to readers of this Topic, and have added, (when I have been able to find the information) full names, dates of birth and death, and other significant details for each writer.

I noted, however, that there are really only 48 writers mentioned, not 50. Two individuals appear twice, once under their own name and once under a pseudonym. So, to make up the number to 50, I have added the names of two other writers to the original list.

I also discovered that several writers on the list are, in my opinion anyway, quite unsuitable as recommended authors for students who are still at the intermediate stage. Perhaps Marjorie was in some cases more motivated by loyalty to old friends than the needs of students. Whatever, the reason, I am convinced that a few of her recommendations are inappropriate so I have indicated by the use of bold text those writers whom I personally recommend. As you will see, that selection is very much shorter.

I hope that experienced Esperantists will endorse my own selections of authors, and I hope even more that, (having seen the second part of this list), they will add their own recommendations of other writers who they believe are most suitable for progressive students.

Here is the first part of this list: the rest of it will appear in the next article.

====================

ATANASOV, A D pseud ADA
Bulgarian author. Best known for his book: El la Intima Libro de la Verd-Urbaj Esperantistoj, published in 1927. Find it if you can!

AULD, William (1924-)
Indefatigable Scottish poet, essayist, editor and translator. See Topic articles: 19th March - 16th April 1999.

BAGHY, Julio (1891-1967)
Hungarian poet, novelist, dramatist and editor. Has been described as "the poet who clipped his wings." Why...because, although a writer of outstanding ability, he often deliberately wrote in a style which is simple to understand. I like Baghy a lot...but I'm a sentimental sort of guy.

BEAUCAIRE, Louis (1925-)
French writer of spicy, humorous anecdotes. So it is said.

BERNARD, Roger
French translator, mainly of poetry and drama, but also of Sartre's novel La Nauzo. I would not recommend anything by Sartre to anybody - in French, English or in Esperanto. A very depressing writer!

BODO, Karlo (1903-1963)
Hungarian and translator. His translations are among the most highly esteemed in Esperanto literature. However, as I am myself reading his translation of Babits's novel La Cikoni-Kalifo , and finding it very hard going indeed, I am flagging this writer as definitely one to avoid.

BULTHUIS, Hendrik Jan (1865-1945)
Dutch novelist who also produced many translations from several different languages.

CARLSSON-BOHMAN, Magda
Swedish translator of poetry from her native language. Maybe a friend of Marjorie's but why is she on this list?

DASGUPTO, Probal
Contemporary writer from India. I like Probal's style myself a great deal...he has a most distinctive voice...but it's certainly not easy and I would hesitate to recommend his work to anyone who has not got a very good grasp of Esperanto.

DRESEN, Hilda (1896-1981)
Estonian poet and translator.

EMBA (real name I Baranyai)(1902-1961)
Hungarian poet who also wrote a novel in 1936, "Maria kaj la Grupo."

ENGHOLM, Stellan (1899-1960)
Swedish author renowned for his clear and lively prose style.

FORGE, Jean (real name Jan Fethke)(1903-1980)
Polish novelist and film-maker. See Topic articles:23rd July - 6th august 1999.

FRANCIS, John (1924-)
Scottish poet and novelist. I probably should have mentioned his science fiction novel Misio sen Alveno in an earlier Topic article.

GOODHEIR, Albert (1912-)
Dutch poet, essayist and translator who lived most of his life in Britain.

GRABOWSKI, Antoni (1857-1921)
Polish poet and polyglot. See Topic articles: 2nd and 16th of October 1998.

GREGOR, D B
English translator of Sophocles. Really, Marjorie!

HAUGEN, E A
Norwegian translator of Ibsen's Peer Gynt. Same comment!

KABE (real name Kasimir Bein)(1872-1959)
Polish translator who created a classical Esperanto prose style, smooth and easily understood. See Topic articles: 30th of October and 6th of November 1998.

(To be continued).