Alphonse Matejka

Alphonse Matejka (9 January 1902 in St. Gallen, Switzerland - 27 October 1999 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland) was a famous Occidentalist of Czech origin.^[1]

The Matejka family came from Vyškovec in Bohemia. Alphonse Matejka’s father moved to Switzerland before 1900 and became a Swiss citizen in 1915. His mother was Swiss and from St. Gallen. Alphonse was born in St. Gallen on January 9, 1902.

He finished school in St. Gallen and became a Swiss citizen. He trained in an embroidery shop called Reichenbach & Co and later worked in its Paris branch for ten years. While in Paris, he studied foreign languages in the evenings, learning Romance and Scandinavian languages, Swahili, and Russian. He also wrote for a Russian-language journal and translated for the Academy of Sciences. Later, he worked for a button export company in Zürich and Amsterdam.

On July 26, 1928, he married Jeanne Bellanger in Paris. In 1937, he moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, and worked in the watchmaking industry. After Bellanger died in 1987, Matejka stopped his public activities and moved to a nursing home. He passed away on October 27, 1999, at age 97.

Matejka supported Pan-Europeanism, an idea about uniting Europe. He also believed international languages should come from "higher civilizations." He followed the economic ideas of Silvio Gesell, who promoted economic freedom. Matejka was very interested in foreign languages and wanted to reform German spelling.

In 1918, Matejka discovered the language Ido (a modified version of Esperanto) and decided it was better. He never supported Esperanto and instead joined the Ido movement. He was active in Ido societies and became:

• Secretary of the Union for the International Language Ido (ULI) from 1929 to 1934.
• President of the Swiss Ido Society (1934-1935).
• President of ULI in 1940 after moving to Paris.

He worked on Ido publications like Suisian Idisto and Ido-Kuriero and became editor-in-chief of the magazine Progreso in 1913.

At first, Matejka opposed the language Occidental (later called Interlingue). He argued that Ido should be improved instead. He even wrote under fake names like "Franko Veramido" and "Scorpion" to debate against Occidental supporters. But in 1937, he became frustrated with Ido and switched to Occidental.

This caused shock in the Ido community. Matejka then became:

• A member of the Occidental Academy.
• Interim president (1943-1946) and later president (1949).
• President of the Occidental-Union in the 1940s.
• A representative for Occidental at the International Auxiliary Language Association (IALA).

For over 20 years (1937-1985), he was the editor of Cosmoglotta, the main Occidental magazine. He wrote language courses, textbooks, translations (including Anton Chekhov), and essays.

When the IALA introduced Interlingua in 1951, many Occidentalists left. However, Matejka saw Interlingua and Interlingue as 90% similar and promoted good relations between both groups. He published his last article in Cosmoglotta in 1985 at age 85.

In 1967, Matejka helped create the Centre de documentation et d'étude sur la langue internationale (CDELI), a research center for international languages. He donated many language materials and frequently visited until his death.

1. ↑ Alphonse Matejka 1902—1999, Cosmoglotta 289, Estive 2000