International book day
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International Book Day (April 23), an annual event organized every April 23 to promote reading, publishing, and the protection of intellectual property through copyright, was inspired by La Diada de Sant Jordi (St. George's Day) in Barcelona, Catalonia.
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[edit] Saint George
Saint George, martyr, died April 23, A.D. 303. He is the hero of the George and the dragon legend. The story says that his faith helped him slay a vicious dragon that demanded daily sacrifice after the king’s daughter became the intended victim.
Saint George is the patron of (among others) the Boy Scouts, agricultural workers, and the countries and regions of England, Georgia, Ethiopia, and Catalonia (in Spain).
[edit] St. George in Barcelona
The legend in Catalonia is more specific: International knight-errant Saint George allegedly slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful princess south of Barcelona. From the dragon's blood sprouted a rose bush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest for the princess.
Hence, the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and romantic love, a day for men and mice alike to give their true loves roses.
In Barcelona, Saint George is everywhere, beginning on the facade of the Catalonian seat of government, the Generalitat. Art Nouveau master Eusebi Arnau sculpted Sant Jordi skewering the unlucky dragon on the facade of the Casa Amatller, as well as on the corner of Els Quatre Gats café.
Gaudí dedicated an entire house, Casa Batlló, to the Sant Jordi theme with the cross of Saint George implanted in the scaly roof and the bones of the dragon's victims framing the windows of the main facade.
[edit] St. George's Day (April 23)
St. George's Day (or the Feast of St. George) is also known as Georgemas.[1]
[edit] Book and Lovers' Day (1923—)
In Barcelona (in Catalonia), Saint George’s Day, which is the anniversary of the death of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, has been observed with special ceremonies in the Palacio de la Disputación and throughout the city since 1714.
Book and Lovers' Day has been celebrated since 1923. Book stands are set up in the plazas and on street corners. Book and Lovers' Day is Spain's equivalent of Saint Valentine's Day. Women give books to men; men give roses to women: "a rose for love and a book forever."
[edit] International Book Day (1995—)
International Book Day[2]—or Day of the Book; or World Book Day—is an event organized every April 23 (on St. George's Day) to promote reading, publishing, and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.
The tradition of La Diada de Sant Jordi (St. George's Day) in Barcelona inspired a Spanish delegation, supported by some 20 other countries, to propose to UNESCO a resolution requesting the proclamation of April 23 of each year as "World Day of the Book." The celebration was unanimously adopted in November 1995 and celebrated ever since.
[edit] Symbolic Date in World Literature
April 23 is a symbolic date in world literature. Curiously, in the year 1616, literary legends Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died on this date. It also happens to be the date of birth or death of other prominent authors, including Maurice Druon, Halldór Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.
[edit] References
- ^ Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language (New York, 1943, p. 1023).
- ^ March 3 is celebrated as World Book Day in the United Kingdom
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