International Language and the Bahá’í World: Esperanto in a “unique record of world-wide Bahá’í activity

Author(s): Morgan Brown
Year: 2026
Language: English
Journal: Baha'i Studies Review
Volume: 23
Issue: Issue 1: e20260920
Pages: 1-12
DOI: doi: https://doi.org/10.67743/e20260920

Description

The Bahá’í World, relaunched in 2024, is intended to be a “unique record of world-wide Bahá’í activity”. Its nearly hundred-year history can therefore provide the basis for an analysis of the varying relationship between the Esperanto Movement and the Bahá’í Faith. This article presents an overview of this relationship, divided into three periods: symbiosis (1925-1944), dealignment (1944-1976), and divergence (1976-present). This is followed by a discussion of the factors, including the decline of the wider Esperanto Movement, which contributed to these shifts, while suggesting the role of Bahá’ís in the international language movement today.

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