(CNN Spanish) — International Book Day is celebrated every April 23, but why was this special day chosen?
UNESCO explains it on its website: April 23 is “a symbolic day” for world literature “since that day in 1616 Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died.”
In addition, “the date also coincides with the birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K. Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo,” explains the UN entity.
For this reason, in 1995, the General Conference of UNESCO, held in Paris, decided to “pay universal tribute to books and authors on this date, encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of the reading”.
Book Day aims to “value the irreplaceable contributions of those who have promoted the social and cultural progress of humanity,” says UNESCO.
Did Cervantes and Shakespeare die on the same day?
But, wait a moment.
Did Cervantes and Shakespeare really die on the same day of the same year? That’s always been said, but it might not be entirely true. The reason? Certain customs and calendars used by Spain and Great Britain at that time.
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra did not die on April 23, but was buried that day. In reality, he died the day before, on April 22, 1616.
This is indicated by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Spain on the commemorative website of the 400th anniversary of the writer’s death.
In those times, the custom was to bury the deceased the day after his death – something that continues today – and to note on the death certificate the date of the burial, not the date of death, as the EFE agency recalls.
That is why his death went down in history as April 23, when it really occurred on the 22nd.
And William Shakespeare? In this case, the references that he died on April 23, 1616 are unequivocal, as the Encyclopedia Britannica says, for example.
However, when the date is mentioned, an important fact is forgotten: the calendar that governed the United Kingdom at that time.
Until 1582, the entire Western world was governed by the Julian calendar, imposed by the Roman emperor Julius Caesar. That year, Pope Gregory XII created his own: the Gregorian, which was quickly implemented in Catholic countries such as Spain, France and Portugal, according to Aciprensa.com.
The United Kingdom did not implement the Gregorian calendar until 1752, according to this same website. That is, in 1616, when the two writers died, both countries were governed by calendars that differed by 10 days and, April 23 in the United Kingdom was, in Spain (and much of the Western world), May 3. of 1616.
This was also confirmed to CNN en Español by Carlos Mayoral, Spanish philologist and author of the book “I’m starting to believe it’s a lie,” who describes as “myth, posturing and marketing” making the two deaths coincide.
Cities designated World Book Capital commit to promoting books and reading and organizing activities throughout the year.
Among the above are:
Madrid, Spain (2001)
Alexandria, Egypt (2002)
New Delhi, India (2003)
Antwerp, Belgium (2004)
Montreal, Canada (2005)
Turin, Italy (2006)
Bogota, Colombia (2007)
Amsterdam, Netherlands (2008)
Beirut, Lebanon (2009)
Ljubljana, Slovenia (2010)
Buenos Aires, Argentina (2011)
Yerevan, Armenia (2012)
Bangkok, Thailand (2013)
Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2014)
Incheon, South Korea (2015)
Wrocław, Poland (2016)
Conakry, Guinea (2017)
Athens, Greece (2018)
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2019)
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2020)
Tbilisi, Georgia (2021)
Guadalajara, Mexico (2022)
Accra, Ghana (2023)
Strasbourg (2024)
— This news has been previously published and updated on April 23, 2024.
