Tuesday, 23 April 2013

World Book Day


World Book Day is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote Reading, publishing and copyright.
The connection between 23 April and books was first made in 1923 by booksellers in Spain as a way to honour the autor Miguel de Cervantes who died on that day.
In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright Day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of  William Shakespeare and the death of Miguel de Cervantes.
To celebrate this day Cervantes' Don Quixote is read during a two-day "readathon" and the Miguel de Cervantes Prize is presented by the King in Alcala de Henares.
In Catalonia, since 1436, St. George’s Day has been 'The Day of the Rose', where the exchange of gifts between sweethearts, loved ones and respected ones occurs. It is analogous to Valentine's Day. Although the World Book and Copyright Day has been celebrated since 1995 internationally, the first time that books where also exchanged in 'The Day of the Rose' in Catalonia was in 1926 to commemorate the death of Cervantes.





WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Stratford-upon-Avon - April 23rd, 1564
Stratford-upon-Avon - April 23rd, 1616



MIGUEL DE CERVANTES SAAVEDRA
Alcalá de Henares - September 29th, 1547
Madrid - April 23rd, 1616

No comments:

Post a Comment