abstract:Cifal (meaning the biggest, most senior head, chief or director in Volapük; itself coming from English ˝chief˝) is the leader of the Volapük movement. The first cifal was Johann Martin Schleyer until 1889 when he dismissed the entire Academy of Volapük, and the Academy dismissed Schleyer as the cifal and the movement divided between the followers of the cifal and of the Academy.