The name George comes from Greek and means “farmer; one who works the earth.” The famous legend about Saint George presents him as the heroic soldier and knight who fought the dragon that lived in a lake and had a whole city in Libya terrified. The animal demanded two lambs to eat every day, in order to not approach the city. Eventually, the farmers began to run out of sheep, and decided to feed the beast a person instead, to be chosen through a daily lottery. One day, the King’s daughter “won” the lottery, but just as the beast was about to eat her, Saint George intervened and saved her. Because of this act, Saint George is the Patron Saint of Chivalry.

The concurrence of World Book Day and the Festival of Saint George is no accident. The first Book Day was celebrated on October 7th 1926, in commemoration of the birth of Miguel de Cervantes. The writer and editor Vincent Clavel Andrés, a native of Valencia living in Barcelona, proposed the idea to the Official Chamber of Booksellers and Publishers of Barcelona. On February 6th 1926, the Spanish government accepted the proposal and King Alfonso XIII signed the royal decree that formally established “Spanish Book Day.” In 1930, the date was changed to April 23rd to commemorate the anniversary of Cervantes’ death. Of course Miguel de Cervantes had very much to do with Barcelona; it was the city to which he offered tremendous praise in his masterpiece “Don Quixote de la Mancha” and in which the protagonist visited a printing press. In 1995, UNESCO established April 23rd as World Book and Copyright Day. We mustn’t forget that April 23rd also marks the death of the great Catalan writer Joseph Pla as well as that of the masterful English playwright William Shakespeare, who died in 1616.

Saint George is the Patron Saint of the Spanish regions of Catalonia and Aragon, as well as the nations of Georgia, Greece, England, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Russia and Serbia.