I'm sure I've probably used the phrase "noteworthy poets" in multiple blogposts in multiple blogs in the past. I like it.
I half stole it from a feature in the magazine Australian Heritage, called "Noteworthy People". In this feature, the magazine would highlight a person who had appeared on Australian legal tender at some point. It was quite interesting - I was particularly fascinated by the article on Lawrence Hargrave, who used to be on the $20 note before being replaced with Mary Reiby. That dude totally rocked. I mean, the guy used to make giant box kites, string them together and then tie a chair to them and go for joy flights.
Anyway, the magazine is apparently running out of money to cash in on (sorry, couldn't resist), because the "noteworthy" people feature has been rather sporadic and occasionally dedicated to someone who wasn't actually on any currency, as far as I know.
I particularly like the phrase "noteworthy poets" because I think it's marvellous that we have poets on our currency. Poetry has been sadly devalued in our society*, and I love the fact that the $10 has a poet on either side, so that every day people look in their wallets and are reminded that we, as Australians, did have an intellectual field beyond science and a passion beyond sport.
Okay, I know no one is actually reminded of that fact. I know most people barely recognise the fact that "Banjo" Patterson is on the $10, and very few have a clue who the chick on the other side is. I like to think, however, that someone, somewhere is going to say "who is that woman? I must google her", and from then on a life-long interest in poetry will begin.
Hey, a girl can dream, can't she?
One of the things that greatly pleased me, when I went to Estonia last year, was noticing that the 100kr note (roughly equivalent to the AUD$10) also had a poet on it: Lydia Koidula. The majority of Estonian banknotes feature a writer on one side and a thematically related place or thing on the other, but Lydia is the token poet - it's what she's mostly known for.
One day I'm going to find all of the poets that have been featured on banknotes around the world and put together an anthology of their work. I might make it a PhD project or something.
When I came back from Estonia, I knew I had kept a couple of notes in my wallet as "souvenirs", and I thought I had kept a 100kr note. I was hoping I had - it was the only one I really wanted. When I looked in my wallet later, though, I found I had accidentally kept a 500kr note instead. Carl Robert Jackobson is kind of cool, but he's no Lydia Koidula. I comforted myself with the knowledge that I could probably fix that when I went back to Eestimaa in a couple of years.
Except Estonia has been accepted into the Euro, now, with the change-over tentatively slated to happen at the beginning of next year. By the time I get back there, 100kr notes will be out of circulation.
That's the problem with the Euro - the biggest problem, in my point of view. So much bigger than the fact that any given country could knock it over by making a mess of their own finances. It takes away the individual countries' ability to honour their own people. There are no people on the Euro banknotes at present, and if they are ever redesigned to include people, I doubt that you'll ever find an Estonian poet taking up space on one of those notes.
Take a look at the current raft of people on the Estonian banknotes: The painter is no longer circulating, but you still have a biologist, a chess grandmaster, a linguist, a composer and a parcel of writers. They mean something to Estonia - and to Estonians. They don't mean anything to the average Jean in Paris. Small beer.
The people you "meet" on your money can be quite interesting. Each country's currency introduces you to some fascinating folk - not to mention telling you something about what that country feels is worth celebrating. So many countries waste the real estate by filling up their notes with rulers of some description. The fact that Estonia has writers and composers on it's cash is just "so Estonia". Heck, I'm sure every single one of those people has at least one statue sitting proudly in a park somewhere. I've seen a few of them with my own eyes.
I shall miss Lydia. She shall disappear without a trace - just like that dude with the serious moustaches on the Luxembourgish 100 Franc. A part of history, rather than a part of people's every day lives. Ah, well. At least you can still go to Pärnu and see her statue.
* 150 years ago, poetry used to be the "pop-songs" of the day, and poets were practically rock stars. Now they get even less respect than librarians. Do you know how depressing that is - especially if you happen to be a librarian who loves poetry?
P.S. I have, in my life, stolen one book from a library - only one, and it was a book of poetry. One day I may tell you what it is.
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