World Book and Copyright Day: Why April 23 Matters for Global Culture

The date of April 23 — symbolic for world literature — became the foundation for establishing the World Book and Copyright Day, intended to strengthen a love of books and reading. On this day in 1616, Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega passed away. It is also the birth or death date of such well-known authors as Maurice Druon, Halldór Laxness, Josep Pla, and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was therefore natural that the UNESCO General Conference, held in Paris in 1995, decided to pay tribute to books and authors on this day, calling on everyone — especially young people — to discover the joy of reading and to respect the invaluable contribution of those who have advanced the social and cultural progress of humanity. At that time, World Book and Copyright Day was officially established, along with the UNESCO Prize for Children's and Young People's Literature in the Service of Tolerance.