National Dante Day in Italy

Different dates in the calendar bring us closer to the memory of great writers. The most paradigmatic case is April 23, the day of the book, in which tradition places, although erroneously, the death of two of the greatest writers in 1616: Miguel de Cervantes (who died the day before) and William Shakespeare (who did die on that day but in the Gregorian calendar, which would be equivalent to May 3 in the Julian calendar).

Another case: Bloomsday, which commemorates June 16, the day on which James Joyce's famous novel Ulysses takes place. Since 1954, this day is particularly suitable for public readings of the work or for fans of the writer to recreate in Dublin the itinerary of the action or even eat the same food as the characters.

The Italian government has approved on 17/01/2020 in its council of ministers and at the request of the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini that March 25 becomes the national day dedicated to Dante Alighieri .

The date is not accidental. The so-called 'Dantedì' coincides with the day on which scholars of the Italian writer place the beginning of his journey through his great work the Comedy, popularly known as The Divine Comedy, as it was baptized shortly after by another great of Italian letters, Giovanni Boccaccio.