He Book Day, which takes place on April 23 celebrates the importance of reading and is a means to encourage the growth of boys and girls as readers and promote love of literature. This is assured by the UNESCO, which in 1995 set the date for World Book and Copyright Day. However, the original idea of ​​Book Day part of Spain, where it was already celebrated years ago.

Specifically, the proposal to dedicate a day to the book and the reading was by the Valencian writer Vicent Clavel Andrés. The translator, journalist and editor based in Barcelona also proposed it to the Official Book Chamber in Barcelona in 1922, as a way to pay tribute to the classic Miguel de Cervantes, author of The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quijote of La Mancha and at the same time, boost book sales.

The idea was approved years later by King Alfonso XIII and the October 7, 1926 The first Book Day was celebrated. Why October 7? Because it was the date on which the writer was believed to have been born. The truth is that the date of birth of the writer is a mystery: it is known, as recorded in the Miguel de Cervantes Virtual Library, that he was baptized in Alcalá de Henares on October 9. Due to proximity, it seems that he could have been born on September 29, Saint Michael’s Day according to Catholic saints.

Why celebrate the birth of Cervantes, if this date was not confirmed? There was the controversy

For four years, Book Day in Spain continued to be celebrated on October 7, but then controversy arose. Why celebrate Cervantes’ unconfirmed date of birth? It seemed that it made more sense to choose the date of his death, which had been documented.

According to Europa Press, there was another reason to consider the change in the date of the celebration: Book Day involved a series of outdoor celebrations and events, and spring was going to be a more appropriate time of year than autumn to carry them. just. Thus, in 1930, it was agreed to definitively transfer the Book Day on April 23a date that also coincides with Sant Jordi’s day, a festive day in Catalonia where red roses and books are given as gifts.

How Spain promoted Book Day in the world

More than half a century later, in 1995, the Spanish Government proposed the idea of ​​the International Publishers Union to UNESCO so that Book Day would become a worldwide celebration. He was quick to respond and that same year, the agency’s general conference approved the proposal: the Book Day was established internationally. Over the years, dozens of countries have joined this celebration and it is currently celebrated in more than 100 countries around the world, although not all do so on the same date: the United Kingdom and Ireland, for example, celebrated it in 2024. on March 7, but the rule is that it always takes place on the first Thursday in March.

Uruguay is another of the countries that celebrate it on another date, May 26, in memory of the day on which the first national public library was created in the country, in 1816. Chile had its own Book Day, on November 29 , regarding the birth of the Venezuelan jurist and philosopher (nationalized Chilean) Andrés de Jesús María y José Bello López, better known as Andrés Bello, one of the fathers of the Venezuelan country. However, over the years it has stopped being celebrated and in Chile they have joined the date of April 23 to honor reading.

Did Shakespeare really die on April 23?

From UNESCO, they insist that the The date of April 23 is very symbolic for universal literature because it coincides with the date of death of writers such as William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes or Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. However, there is also a misconception of dates here: theoretically Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon at the age of 52 on April 23, 1616.

In Spain, in that year, time was already counted following the Gregorian calendar – it is the calendar we currently use – but not on British soil; The Julian calendar was not stopped there until 1752. What does this mean? That Shakespeare died on April 23 according to the Julian calendarbut transferred to Gregorian, it would be May 3.

Nor did Cervantes die on April 23although both died the same year, in 1616. Seriously ill, Cervantes signed an edition of The works of Persiles and Sigismunda, dated April 19, in a dedication in which he claimed to have received the last unction the day before. “Time is short, desires grow, hopes diminish and, with all this, I lead life based on the desire I have to live.” Cervantes anticipated his death: “Now standing on the writing, with the longing for death, great sir, I write to you,” he wrote, according to the Royal Academy of History.

Indeed, he died, but it was not on April 23. He died on April 22, in his house on Calle del León in Madrid, “surely attended by his wife and his niece Constanza de Ovando.” April 23 was indeed the date of his funeral, but the encyclopedias, over time, have been rectifying the date of death of the Madrid writer, author of one of the best-known literary works in the world.

On April 23, Catalonia also celebrates the day of Sant Jordi (Saint George), a holiday in the regional calendar and a date with the tradition of giving a book and a red rose, two key elements in the celebration of this day. . On the other hand, on April 23, the annual presentation of the Cervantes Prizethe highest award given to Hispanic authors.

What is the world book capital in 2024

In addition to the many celebrations that take place in different parts of the world, UNESCO and international organizations representing the three main sectors of the book industry—publishers, booksellers and libraries—select a city as world book capital, in order to maintain the momentum of the celebrations of this day until April 23 of the following year. It is not surprising, of course, that the first world book capital outside MadridSpain having been the main promoter of the celebration of Book Day.

In 2024, the world book capital is Strasbourg (France), a city that proposed an initiative to emphasize reading in order to open the debate on the environment. These have been all the world book capitals, since UNESCO began choosing them in 2001:

  • Strasbourg, France (2024)
  • Accra, Ghana (2023)
  • Guadalajara, Mexico (2022)
  • Tbilisi, Georgia (2021)
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2020)
  • Sharjah, Dubai (2019)
  • Athens, Greece (2018)
  • Conakry, Guinea (2017)
  • Wroclaw, Poland (2016)
  • Incheon, South Korea (2015)
  • Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2014)
  • Bangkok, Thailand (2013)
  • Yerevan, Armenia (2012)
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina (2011)
  • Ljubljana, Slovenia (2010)
  • Beirut, Lebanon (2009)
  • Amsterdam, Netherlands (2010)
  • Bogota, Colombia (2007)
  • Turin, Italy (2006)
  • Montreal, Canada (2005)
  • Antwerp, Belgium (2004)
  • New Delhi, India (2003)
  • Alexandria, Egypt (2002)
  • Madrid, Spain (2001)