Cuban Book Day, established on the 31st of March 1981, honors the creation of the National Printing House, its founding director Alejo Carpentier, and the first publication in the country, Don Quixote.

Havana, Cuba.- This event made possible the access to reading for many Cubans, the publication of several magazines, as well as booklets, pamphlets, and manuals of the National Literacy Campaign (1961).

At Fidel Castro’s suggestion, the masterpiece of Spanish literature, “El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha,” by Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, was chosen as the first book to be published, with a print run of 100,000 copies.

The National Printing House of Cuba, created in 1959, was turned into the National Publishing House (1962), and the journalist, musicologist, researcher, and novelist Carpentier remained in the management of that institution for four years.

Later, in 1967, the Cuban Book Institute was founded, creating a whole system of publishing houses in the country, and millions of titles by Cuban and foreign writers were released. (PL)