Louis de Beaufront

Louis de Beaufront ( born October 3, 1855 as Louis Chevreux; † January 8, 1935 ) was one of the first French Esperanto, but later became one of the most propagator of the propagated among others by Louis Couturat plan language Ido.

Much of Beaufronts life is puzzling. He gave himself the title of Marquis, invented a pedigree that linked him to the French kings, will have had a doctorate in theology and India and Japan have traveled. Allegedly, he had already worked out before Esperanto own project, " Adjuvanto ", but abandoned it for Esperanto.

Only after his death, his father turned out that the tutor de Beaufront whose real name was Louis Chevreux, his mother had been support recipient unknown. His biographer Roland Jossinet acknowledges that this talented self-taught artist has played its role as a noble ideal, and thus served very young Esperanto movement.

De Beaufront had discovered already in 1888 Esperanto itself. He founded in 1898 the Esperanto Association « Société pour la Propagation de l' Espéranto » ( SPPE ) plus a magazine, mainly in French. Is also expected to its merits to have promoted important personalities for Esperanto.

Unlike the voice founder Zamenhof de Beaufront emphasized the practical, less the ideal side of Esperanto. After being held up for him to have pocketed as a mediator of a contract between Zamenhof and the publisher Hachette to high commissions, grew the differences between him and the Esperanto movement.

However, he was sent by Zamenhof as a delegate in a committee which had made the choice of an international language for task ( the so-called delegation of the mathematician Louis Couturat ). There was not - choose between the languages ​​existing plan, but a new project, which had introduced a stranger under the name " Ido " - contrary to the original agreements. De Beaufront voted for this project, whose author he claimed to be even later in June 1908. Today, there is proof that Ido mainly comes from Louis Couturat.