L. L. Zamenhof the Yiddish form of the forename and a russified version of his surname; many later Russian language documents also include the patronymic "Markovich", as is the custom in the language. His family name is of German origin and was originally written "Samenhof"; the spelling Zamenhof reflects the romanization of the Yiddish spelling , as well as the Esperanto and Polish spellings. In his adolescence he used both the Yiddish "Leyzer" and the Russian "Lazar". While at university, Zamenhof began using the Russian name "Lyudovik" (also transcribed "Ludovic" or translated as "Ludwig") in place of "Lazar", possibly in honor of Francis
Ludwik Rajchman the first cousin of Ludwik Hirszfeld, a Polish microbiologist. Ludwik Rajchman is the father of Jan A. Rajchman, a Polish computer scientist, inventor of magnetic-core memory. Rajchman grew up in Warsaw in the difficult conditions of the Russian occupation. At an early age, he and his sister Helena became keenly aware of the social injustices in their "country" (Poland did not officially exist at the time) and were involved as teenagers in teaching young workers. As an adult, he joined the Polish socialist party (PPS) and was involved in the 1905 uprising and even arrested. After several months in prison