Wilhelm Molly

{{Infobox person | name = Wilhelm Molly | image = Wilhelm Molly.jpg | alt = | caption = Wilhelm Molly | birth_name = | birth_date = 1838 | birth_place = Blasbach, Wetzlar | death_date = 1919 | death_place = Neutral Moresnet | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Doctor | years_active = | known_for = Philately | notable_works = }}

'''Wilhelm Molly''' (1838–1919) was a doctor, philatelist, activist, and Esperantist.<ref name="moresnet">{{cite web |title=Neutral-Moresnet History 1916–1919 |publisher=moresnet.nl |date= |url=http://www.moresnet.nl/english/geschiedenis_en.htm |accessdate=17 July 2016 |archive-date=12 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120812001647/http://www.moresnet.nl/english/geschiedenis_en.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was the chief medical doctor of the Vieille Montagne mining company.

As an avid philatelist, he tried to organize a local postal service with its own stamps. This enterprise was quickly thwarted by Belgian intervention.<ref name="moresnet"/><ref name="moresnet2">{{cite web |title=Stamps and postal history |publisher=moresnet.nl |date= |url=http://www.moresnet.nl/english/postverkeer_en.htm |accessdate=17 July 2016 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420132008/http://www.moresnet.nl/english/postverkeer_en.htm |archivedate=20 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Weber |first=Saine |title=Amikejo, Ort der Freundschaft |publisher=Deutschlandfunk |language=German |date=12 May 2008 |url=http://www.deutschlandfunk.de/amikejo-ort-der-freundschaft.1247.de.html?dram:article_id=190076 |accessdate=17 July 2016 }}</ref>

In 1908, Molly proposed to make Neutral Moresnet the world's first state with Esperanto as its official language, named ''Amikejo'' ({{abbr|lit.|literally}} ''Place of Friendship'').<ref name="moresnet"/>

==See also== * History of Esperanto

==Bibliography==

*{{cite journal|language= French| author=Robelin, Cyril|title=Un étranger inventeur de nation: le cas du docteur Wilhelm Molly à Moresnet‑Neutre|journal= Sociétés Plurielles|number= 4|year=2021|doi=10.46298/societes-plurielles.2021.8406}}

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molly, Wilhelm}} Category:1838 births Category:1919 deaths Category:Esperantists Category:German philatelists Category:Neutral Moresnet Category:People from the Rhine Province Category:People from Wetzlar