DECEMBER 12 — CHINGIZ AITMATOV
Kyrgystani novelist, diplomat, sly Stalinist critic.
DECEMBER 12 HOLIDAYS AND FESTIVALS
JEWISH CHANNUKAH begins. Mexico: FIESTA OF THE VIRGIN OF GUADALUPE, greatest of the great Mexican fiestas. Not only was the Virgin the pa-
troness of the Mexican Revolution, but she has also absorbed the cult of
the Aztec goddess of the earth and of corn. Vestiges of the Aztec cere-
monies persist in this fiesta. Polynesia: FEAST OF REKAREKA, God of Pleas-
ure. Arizona: Hopi Indians begin eight-day-long FAREWELL TO AUTUMN.
ALSO ON DECEMBER 12 IN HISTORY
1531 — Virgin of Guadalupe appears to Indian boy, Tepeyac, Mexico.
1731 — Scientist Erasmus Darwin born, Nottinghamshire, England.
1812 — Death of Sacajawea, native guide for Lewis & Clark Expedition.
1821 — French writer Gustave Flaubert born, Rouen, France.
1863 — Norwegian painter and printmaker Edvard Munch born.
1885 — Russian proto-Constructivist Vladimir Tatlin born, Kharkiv, Russia.
1907 — Zulu King Dinizulu surrenders to British military forces, Natal.
1928 — Kyrgystani novelist, diplomat Ghingiz Aitmatov born, Sheker Tallaskoi.
1964 — “Solidarity” anarchist bookstore opens, Chicago, Illinois.
Excerpted from The 2009 Autonomedia Calendar of Jubilee Saints: Radical Heroes for the New Millennium by James Koehnline and the Autonomedia Collective.