The 21st of September we celebrate the student’s day in Argentina!
Did you know that…?
The International Students' Day is an international observance of student community, held annually on November 17. The date commemorates the anniversary of the 1939 Nazi storming of the University of Prague after demonstrations against the killing of Jan Opletal and worker Václav Sedláček as well as against the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and the execution of nine student leaders, over 1,200 students sent to concentration camps, and the closure of all Czech universities and colleges.
During late 1939 the Nazi authorities in Czechoslovakia (at that time it called the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia) suppressed a demonstration in Prague held by students of the Medical Faculty of Charles University. The demonstration was held on the 28th of October to commemorate the anniversary of the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic.
During this demonstration the student Jan Opletal was shot and died from wounds on the 11th of November. On the 15th of November his body was meant to be transported from Prague back to his home in Moravia. His funeral procession consisted of thousands of students, who turned this event into an anti-Nazi demonstration. However, this resulted in drastic measures being taken by the Nazis. All Czech higher education institutions were closed down, more than 1,200 students were arrested and sent to concentration camps, and nine students and professors were executed without trial on the 17th of November. Due to this, 17 November was chosen as International Students’ Day.
Interesting, isn't it? I came across this information while surfing the net last Thursday and I sent it to Fernando to post it. I didn't know that there was an "International Student's day" and that it had been celebrated since 1941... so interesting! I wanted to share my discovery!
ReplyDelete...because the student's day is much more than a free day for sex, drugs and rock and rolllll
Sabrina
It was amazing for me discover trough this blog, that there is an International Student´s day.Actually, is not a happy day, is a commemoration and has an absolutely different meaning that what we celebrate on 21th.September .Our Student´s day has relation with the comming of the springtime.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we should commemorate the 17th November too, with this other meaning to remember those young people and their suffering.
Tamara.
Yes, Tamara! In Buenos Aires the student's day is a day to celebrate spring and youth. Secondary school students do not go to school and they celebrate mainly by going on picnics in the parks of the city...
DeleteBut actually, the 21st of September we commemorate the arrival of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's mortal remains from Paraguay in 1888...
It's incredible how when time passes, we forget (or we are made to forget) and we assign new meanings to dates, events, etc. That's why historical memory is so important!
(Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, 1811-1888, was an Argentine activist, intellectual, writer, statesman and the seventh President of Argentina. Sarmiento died in Asunción, Paraguay, at the age of 77 from a heart attack. He was buried in Buenos Aires. Today, he is respected as one of the first promoters of State Education in Argentina -compulsory, free and non-religious education for all- )
Sabrina
I DIDN´T KNOW THE MEANING OF THE STUDENT´S DAY IN THIS WAY.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, all my life I enjoied the day as the arriving of Spring, the love´s season.
However I didn´t know about Sarmiento´s mortal remains.
Thanks for the information!!
Perla