The French Say “Non” to Esperanto

Léon Bérard. Not a fan
of Esperanto

Esperanto got bounced from French universities, but the claimed reason wasn’t that the language might compete with French (quelle horreur!) but because “it is one of the favorite mediums for spreading Communistic propaganda. The article in the July 16, 1922 Ogden Standard-Examiner ascribes that opinion to ”leading French educators."

The article goes on to quote one of those “leading French educators,” Léon Bérard, the minister of education. Bérard was a prominent opponent of Esperanto, not only banning it in the public schools of France, but also was one of the key figures in causing the League of Nations to reject a resolution in favor of Esperanto. During World War II, he was the Ambassador to the Holy See from the collaborationist Vichy government. The Nazis established their own ban on Esperanto (among other things, including Braille) in 1940. The Nazis sought to wipe out Esperanto, not just ban it from their mails though.

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