L. L. Zamenhof L. L. Zamenhof Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof (; , ; – ), credited as L. L. Zamenhof and sometimes as the pseudonymous Dr. Esperanto, was a Polish-Jewish ophthalmologist and the creator of Esperanto, the most successful constructed language in the world. He grew up fascinated by the idea of a world without war and believed that this could happen with the help of a new international auxiliary language, which he first developed in 1873 while still in school. Zamenhof was born on 15 December (3 December OS) 1859, the son of Markus Zamenhof (27 January 1837 - 29 November 1907) and
Ludwik Marteau Ludwik Marteau Ludwik Marteau, originally Louis-François Marteau (c.1715, Paris - 2 November 1804, Warsaw) was a French-born Polish court painter who served under kings Augustus III and Stanisław August Poniatowski. All of his known works are portraits; both full size and miniatures. His father was a carpenter at the royal Palace of Versailles. One of his aunts on his mother's side was married to the Polish court painter, Louis de Silvestre. It is not known exactly when he arrived in Poland, but it appears that his teacher, Maurice Quentin de La Tour made the recommendation to go and Silvestre arranged