Rüdiger Eichholz
Encyclopedia
Rüdiger Eichholz was a Canadian
physicist and Esperantist
and a member of the Esperanto Academy
. (In Canada he often styled his first name as "Ruediger" or "Rudi".) He is best known for publishing the "Esperanto picture dictionary" (1988) and a massive anthology co-edited with his wife, Esperanto in the Modern World (1982).
, he became a delegate to the World Congress of Esperanto
held in Bournemouth, England
, but in 1953 he and his Esperantist
wife Vilma
(1926-1995) emigrated to Toronto
, Canada
and were thereafter pillars of the Esperanto movement. In 1956 they moved to a house they bought in the countryside near Oakville
, 30 km west of Toronto. On July 18, 1959, he and Vilma opened their house as a cultural centre for Esperantists, and in July of 1960 they hosted the second congress of the Canadian Esperanto Association
(Kanada Esperanto-Asocio or KEA) after its reconstitution in 1958. In the years to follow, Vilma taught Esperanto courses there, and the couple founded several local Canadian Esperanto clubs. The Eichholz couple educated their son Alko and their daughters Suna and Brila as native Esperanto speakers.
and of books about the language as well. A few of them were Vilma's works. Through his Esperanto Press, Eichholz printed periodicals and informational bulletins of the KEA. Because it was not possible to send money to Canada in some of the countries where he sold books, he accepted other Esperanto books in exchange, and so he also became a Canadian bookseller of Esperanto works published abroad. From that beginning grew the Libroservo de KEA ("KEA book service"). In 1961 he became editor of the periodical Kanada Esperanto-Revuo. At that time he and Vilma were also extremely active in publicizing Esperanto and his bookselling business had begun to take too much of his time, so he sold his book inventory to the KEA. Though he did not always agree with decisions of the association, he remained a passionate collaborator of the KEA for the rest of his life and was elected an honorary member in 1995.
He also published children's books Ni legas bildojn ("We read pictures," 1957) and Alko kaj Suna ("Alko and Suna," 1958), pamphlets on Unitarianism
(1958), various books in and about Esperanto
and several of his wife's books (such as the textbook En novan mondon ("In the new world," 1984).
version of the well-known Duden
German-language
picture dictionary
. He succeeded in getting permission from Duden, and accomplished the task of compiling and publishing it.
In 1980, having sold his house in Oakville, he moved to Bailieboro, Ontario
, where he built a house on a property near the north shore of Rice Lake
. The press was installed there, and Eichholz continued the work of Esperanto Press. He printed textbooks written by Vilma, an English-language
version of Edmond Privat
's The Life of Zamenhof
and many other books. He also edited and printed the KEA magazine, now named Lumo.
For many years Eichholz had collected definitions of Esperanto words, and another major accomplishment for him was the compilation and printing in 1982 of the 600-page book "Esperanto in the Modern World" which he and Vilma co-edited.
member in 1976, Eichholz led its technical and specialized terminology
section. From his multi-year collaborative collection of word definitions he first developed in 1968 his Slipara vortaro ("Filing dictionary") and later, in the computer age, the Perkomputora termino-kolekto ("Collected computer terms" or Pekoteko).
From 1983 to 1990 he edited six extensive volumes of Akademiaj studoj ("Academic studies"). In the World Esperanto Association
(Universala Esperanto-Asocio or UEA), Eichholz was active as a committee member for Canada (1988-92) and for decades as a special-interest-group delegate for world federalism, Unitarianism
and Esperanto terminology
.
s, from international Esperanto meetings and elsewhere, of famed Esperantist
s and of Esperanto radio broadcasts. On the basis of his collection of recorded audio tapes, in 1957 he founded the UEA Recorded Tapes Service and remained its director until 1991. For a small payment one could order copies of these items from his catalogue.
In May 2000 he sold his house and moved to a seniors residence in Cobourg
. Because he had to disperse all the goods in the house, he donated his remaining stock of books and documents to the Canadian Esperanto Association
, which received approximately 2,000 copies of Esperanto in the modern world without charge. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to enjoy his retirement. On August 26 he suffered a stroke; he died in hospital ten days later, on September 5, 2000.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
physicist and Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
and a member of the Esperanto Academy
Akademio de Esperanto
The Akademio de Esperanto is an independent body intended to control the evolution of the language Esperanto by keeping it consistent with the fundamental principles thereof. Modelled somewhat after the Académie française, it was proposed by L. L...
. (In Canada he often styled his first name as "Ruediger" or "Rudi".) He is best known for publishing the "Esperanto picture dictionary" (1988) and a massive anthology co-edited with his wife, Esperanto in the Modern World (1982).
Propagation of Esperanto
In 1949, then living in Göttingen, West GermanyGöttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, he became a delegate to the World Congress of Esperanto
World Congress of Esperanto
The World Congress of Esperanto has the longest tradition among international Esperanto conventions, with an almost unbroken run of more than a hundred years. The congresses have been held since 1905 every year, except during World Wars I and II...
held in Bournemouth, England
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, but in 1953 he and his Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
wife Vilma
Vilma Sindona Eichholz
Vilma Sindona Eichholz was a German-born Canadian Esperantist; the wife of Rüdiger Eichholz, she and her husband were responsible for the propagation of Esperanto in Canada.-References:...
(1926-1995) emigrated to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and were thereafter pillars of the Esperanto movement. In 1956 they moved to a house they bought in the countryside near Oakville
Oakville, Ontario
Oakville is a town in Halton Region, on Lake Ontario in Southern Ontario, Canada, and is part of the Greater Toronto Area. As of the 2006 census the population was 165,613.-History:In 1793, Dundas Street was surveyed for a military road...
, 30 km west of Toronto. On July 18, 1959, he and Vilma opened their house as a cultural centre for Esperantists, and in July of 1960 they hosted the second congress of the Canadian Esperanto Association
Canadian Esperanto Association
The Canadian Esperanto Association is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance the education of the Canadian public in the international language Esperanto....
(Kanada Esperanto-Asocio or KEA) after its reconstitution in 1958. In the years to follow, Vilma taught Esperanto courses there, and the couple founded several local Canadian Esperanto clubs. The Eichholz couple educated their son Alko and their daughters Suna and Brila as native Esperanto speakers.
Editing and publishing
Eichholz purchased printing machinery and became a printer and publisher of books in EsperantoEsperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
and of books about the language as well. A few of them were Vilma's works. Through his Esperanto Press, Eichholz printed periodicals and informational bulletins of the KEA. Because it was not possible to send money to Canada in some of the countries where he sold books, he accepted other Esperanto books in exchange, and so he also became a Canadian bookseller of Esperanto works published abroad. From that beginning grew the Libroservo de KEA ("KEA book service"). In 1961 he became editor of the periodical Kanada Esperanto-Revuo. At that time he and Vilma were also extremely active in publicizing Esperanto and his bookselling business had begun to take too much of his time, so he sold his book inventory to the KEA. Though he did not always agree with decisions of the association, he remained a passionate collaborator of the KEA for the rest of his life and was elected an honorary member in 1995.
He also published children's books Ni legas bildojn ("We read pictures," 1957) and Alko kaj Suna ("Alko and Suna," 1958), pamphlets on Unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
(1958), various books in and about Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
and several of his wife's books (such as the textbook En novan mondon ("In the new world," 1984).
Two publication milestones
A grand achievement for him was the appearance in 1988 of the great Esperanta Bildvortaro ("Esperanto picture dictionary", a project on which he attracted no fewer than 143 collaborators in translation. The book was an EsperantoEsperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
version of the well-known Duden
Duden
The Duden is a German dictionary, first published by Konrad Duden in 1880.Currently the Duden is in its 25th edition and published in 12 volumes, each covering different aspects like loan words, etymology, pronunciation, synonyms, etc...
German-language
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
picture dictionary
Picture dictionary
A picture dictionary or pictorial dictionary is a dictionary where the definition of a word is displayed in the form of a drawing or photograph. Picture dictionaries are useful in a variety of teaching environments, such as teaching a young child about their native language, or instructing older...
. He succeeded in getting permission from Duden, and accomplished the task of compiling and publishing it.
In 1980, having sold his house in Oakville, he moved to Bailieboro, Ontario
Otonabee-South Monaghan, Ontario
Otonabee-South Monaghan is a township in central-eastern Ontario, Canada, in Peterborough County. It is located along the Trent-Severn Waterway.-Communities:...
, where he built a house on a property near the north shore of Rice Lake
Rice Lake (Ontario)
Rice Lake is a lake located in south-eastern Ontario, in Northumberland County, south of Peterborough and the Kawartha lakes and north of Cobourg. The lake is part of the Trent-Severn Waterway, which flows into the lake by the Otonabee and out via the Trent. The lake is 32 km long and...
. The press was installed there, and Eichholz continued the work of Esperanto Press. He printed textbooks written by Vilma, an English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
version of Edmond Privat
Edmond Privat
Edmond Privat was a Francophone Swiss Esperantist. A historian, university professor, author, journalist and peace activist, he was a graduate of the University of Geneva and a lecturer for the World Peace Foundation...
's The Life of Zamenhof
The Life of Zamenhof
The Life of Zamenhof is biography of Zamenhof, the founder of Esperanto, written in Esperanto by Edmond Privat. The first edition was in 1920 with 208 pages, and the second edition was in 1923 with 109 pages...
and many other books. He also edited and printed the KEA magazine, now named Lumo.
For many years Eichholz had collected definitions of Esperanto words, and another major accomplishment for him was the compilation and printing in 1982 of the 600-page book "Esperanto in the Modern World" which he and Vilma co-edited.
Esperanto Academy
Elected as an Esperanto AcademyAkademio de Esperanto
The Akademio de Esperanto is an independent body intended to control the evolution of the language Esperanto by keeping it consistent with the fundamental principles thereof. Modelled somewhat after the Académie française, it was proposed by L. L...
member in 1976, Eichholz led its technical and specialized terminology
Technical terminology
Technical terminology is the specialized vocabulary of any field, not just technical fields. The same is true of the synonyms technical terms, terms of art, shop talk and words of art, which do not necessarily refer to technology or art...
section. From his multi-year collaborative collection of word definitions he first developed in 1968 his Slipara vortaro ("Filing dictionary") and later, in the computer age, the Perkomputora termino-kolekto ("Collected computer terms" or Pekoteko).
From 1983 to 1990 he edited six extensive volumes of Akademiaj studoj ("Academic studies"). In the World Esperanto Association
World Esperanto Association
The World Esperanto Association is the largest international organization of Esperanto speakers, with members in 121 countries and in official relations with the United Nations and UNESCO. In addition to individual members, 70 national Esperanto organizations are affiliated to UEA...
(Universala Esperanto-Asocio or UEA), Eichholz was active as a committee member for Canada (1988-92) and for decades as a special-interest-group delegate for world federalism, Unitarianism
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
and Esperanto terminology
Esperanto vocabulary
The word base of Esperanto was originally defined by Lingvo internacia, published by Zamenhof in 1887. It contained some 900 root words. The rules of the language allow speakers to borrow words as needed, recommending only that they look for the most international words, and that they borrow one...
.
Sound recordings
Eichholz made audio tape recordingMagnetic tape sound recording
The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...
s, from international Esperanto meetings and elsewhere, of famed Esperantist
Esperantist
An Esperantist is a person who speaks or uses Esperanto. Etymologically, an Esperantist is someone who hopes...
s and of Esperanto radio broadcasts. On the basis of his collection of recorded audio tapes, in 1957 he founded the UEA Recorded Tapes Service and remained its director until 1991. For a small payment one could order copies of these items from his catalogue.
Eichholz's last years
Fate dealt him a severe blow in 1994 when he returned from a visit to his native Germany. Vilma, who had stayed behind while Rüdiger went to Europe, was exhausted; the doctor diagnosed liver cancer. After several months' battle with cancer, Rudi's wife and close collaborator died in July 1995. He wanted to find young Esperantist couples, perhaps in Europe, who might want to lodge with him in Bailieboro and take on the labor of Esperanto Press. He advertised in Esperanto periodicals and searched in various ways but without success. Eventually he had to abandon the possibility of continuing with the publication work.In May 2000 he sold his house and moved to a seniors residence in Cobourg
Cobourg, Ontario
Cobourg is a town in the Canadian province of Ontario, located in Southern Ontario 95 km east of Toronto. It is the largest town in Northumberland County. Its nearest neighbour is Port Hope, to the west. It is located along Highway 401 and the former Highway 2...
. Because he had to disperse all the goods in the house, he donated his remaining stock of books and documents to the Canadian Esperanto Association
Canadian Esperanto Association
The Canadian Esperanto Association is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance the education of the Canadian public in the international language Esperanto....
, which received approximately 2,000 copies of Esperanto in the modern world without charge. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to enjoy his retirement. On August 26 he suffered a stroke; he died in hospital ten days later, on September 5, 2000.
Works
- Ruediger Eichholz and Vilma Sindona Eichholz, eds., Esperanto en la Moderna Mondo, Esperanto in the Modern World: Studies and Articles on Language Problems, the Right to Communicate, and the International Language (1959-1982), Bailieboro, Ontario: Esperanto Press, 1982. ISBN 0919186181
- Rüdiger Eichholz, "Esperanto kiel interlingvo en maŝina tradukado" in Serta gratulatoria in honorem Juan Régulo. Universidad de La Laguna, Salamanca, 3,266 pp., 1986 ISBN 84-600-4290-1
- Esperanta Bildvortaro, tr. Rüdiger Eichholz. Esperanto Press: Bailieboro, Ontario, 1988.
- Rüdiger Eichholz, "Principoj por selekto de fakaj termino" in La stato kaj estonteco de la internacia lingvo Esperanto (Proceedings of the first symposium of the Esperanto Academy (Prague, 1994). Petr Chrdle, ed., LinkKava-Pech: Prague, 1995, 190 pp. ISBN 80-85853-08-6