International School Day of Non-Violence and Peace

I run several months behind in reporting on these news items, which usually doesn’t matter, but this would would have been better reported on January 30th. I have learned that this day is celebrated as “International School Day of Non Violence and Peace,” first established in 1964 by Llorenç Vidal Vidal on the anniversary of Gandhi’s death. I’m not sure if the word “International” is technically part of the, since it was created in Spain and continues, as far as I can tell, primarily to be celebrated there as DENIP (after the Spanish initials). The name is confusing because it is easy to mix up with the International Day of Non-Violence, which is on Gandhi’s birthday of October 2nd (but was not established until 2007). There is also an International Day of Peace, celebrated on September 21nd, approximately the time of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual opening (est. 1981). With so many days devoted to peace and non-violence, it is a wonder we live in such a murderous world.

The January 30th commemoration interests me particularly because it is also the date of the Spanish-Dutch Treaty of Münster, signed in 1648. This fact does not seem to have played any part in the selection of the day, nor, as far as I can tell, in any of the subsequent celebrations. According to one site, celebrations are more focussed on 20th century rock musicians such as Phil Collins (born on that date in 1951) and The Cure drummer Andy Anderson (born 1966), as well as the Beatles’s final live performance in 1969.