Ethan Dias
Author of An Unabridged Introduction to Historical Material Analysis.
Dias' parents were Medsa immigrants from the Argoli-Medini Coast that fled to Neruseru during the establishment of Argosy. Dias' father was a physician of some sort named David, and his mother was a well-known painter named Aravar, renowned for her styles of perspective that were unique to the region at the time.
Dias fought for the Kinseti Nationalists during the Sunrise Offensive against Crysos the Just and Andro Egveidt of Vesper. He first gained notoriety at this time, but little is known of his life beforehand. It is widely accepted that he was studying medicine, but there is no consensus on the extent of his education, nor indeed what compelled him to travel to Kinsetaria and join the war, as his status as a Neruseru national would have placed no such obligation on him.
After the birth of the Crystal Kingdom, Dias sought asylum in the Sea of Hope, where he was expelled after less than a year in response to popular pressure. He later received asylum in Greater Usor, where he lived for either eight or thirteen years, depending on sources. It is widely agreed that he wrote A Critique of Liberal Revolution, End of Coal, and Smiling Pirates during this time.
He was next discovered to be hiding in Sheshar. In response to pressure from both Crysos the Just and Wilhelmina Madrigal of Vesper, the Sheshai monks asked him to leave, which he did. It is assumed that he wrote Manifest Fascism, High Liberalism and the Death of Democracy, The Year of Wolves, Chalk Mine (a satirical stageplay), Cry of Chrysanthus (an operetta), and Labor's Obligations and Enfranchisement during this time. Some still say he also wrote An Unabridged Introduction to Historical Material Analysis in Sheshar, but this is a minority opinion.
Dias was last discovered in Boros, on the eastern side of the Hyfervoria Mountains. Under suspicion of plotting insurrection against the Crystal Kingdom, Crysos the Just ordered Dias seized. By the time the Bota arrived, however, Dias was dead, having been murdered in an altercation with his neighbors. Rumors persist to this day of an elaborate plot to spirit him away, but Dias' corpse was presented to the Bota upon their arrival, wherein he was definitively identified. The neighbors, eager to be exonorated for their murder, showed the body and insisted they were acting on behalf of the Kingdom. No charges were brought against them.
Upon hearing of his death, Calendri Ensofal famously said, "Gaia's future has died today."
Legacy: While the Communards are seen as the spark that ignited the socialist flames unerpinning all of Gaia 19, Dias is widely regarded as the mind that provided a theoretical framework for the international movement. Nevertheless, even the "Father of Modern Socialism" has enjoyed varied criticisms.
In particular, Dias' early work is often discarded as empty polemic, especially End of Coal. While regarded by many as a stirring ode to the Communards and their sacrifice, few attribute any theoretical value to the work. Conversely, it is Smiling Pirates, a more openly polemic work, that demonstrates much of the theoretical genius that defines Dias' legacy.
Although his most famous work has three celebrated abridgements, High Liberalism and the Death of Democracy is considered the definitive introductory text, laying out many of his ideas in broader, more digestible terms. Similarly, while Manifest Fascism and The Year of Wolves are both dismissed as polemical, they have strong celebrants among casual readers, especially the young. The Year of Wolves, in particular, has frequently been called moving and even poetic, with Jovannan himself acknowledging the work as "dramatic."
Many suggest it was the success of The Year of Wolves that led Dias to pen his satirical stageplay Chalk Mine, as well as his operetta Cry of Chrysanthus, two works that only the most fanatical of his followers will defend. Many have tried to blame Dias' disciple Calendri Ensofal for these works, given her extensive background in the arts, but there is no evidence the two ever discussed drama, and Dias infamously referred to Cry of Chrysanthus as an "opera," suggesting a level of ignorance that Ensofal would have corrected, given the opportunity.
Of course, Dias' legacy is best defined by An Unabridged Introduction to Historical Material Analysis. It was originally titled simply Historical Materialism, but precious few copies of the first printing exist today. It was this work that has defined socialist movements all over Gaia since at least '34.
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