Sura Eşiderea
Sura Eşiderea | |
|---|---|
 Sura Eşiderea, circa 1836 | |
| Born | 1 December 1800 |
| Died | 29 September 1901 (aged 100) |
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Sura Eşiderea (1 December 1800 – 29 September 1901) was a Gylian landowner, philanthropist, and horse breeder. She was an important figure in the Gylian ascendancy and a prominent member of the constitutionalist faction. She became the most successful Gylian landlord, owning vast landholdings during Xevden's disintegration, and was known as a benevolent landowner, who leased out her land in highly generous terms for tenants, and supported the establishment of schools and cooperatives.
Her name has become ingrained in Gylian culture as a byword for someone with an illustrious reputation in an otherwise disgraceful occupation. She is considered by historians to be a forerunner of the land reforms carried out by Alscia and the Free Territories. Columnist Esua Nadel summed up her legacy humorously as "the only landlord to ever be called a 'friend of the people'."
Life
Sura Eşiderea was born on 1 December 1800. She was the third of five children, and was largely educated at home.
She married a member of the Xevdenite nobility in 1820. The marriage was happy and successful, lasting until his death, and they had two children. The marriage gave her an entrance into the world of nobility and the wealth necessary to build up her estates.
Sura and her husband spent most of their lives buying up land and developing estates. They took particular advantage of the destruction caused by the Gylian revolution of 1848 and Glorious Rebellion to buy land at rock-bottom prices or take it from other Xevdenite nobles. Historian Nina Raukan described Sura as "utterly ruthless in acquiring land from the nobility, and utterly benevolent and virtuous towards her tenants". By her late life, Sura's landholdings were estimated at nearly 1.000.000 km², making her the owner of an area close to Gylias' total modern surface of 1.728.328 km².
Sura was known as a gregarious, generous, and lenient landowner. She granted lifetime leases to tenants at rock-bottom prices, and only collected a yearly nominal rent of 1 crown. She famously never evicted any tenant. She leased out her land in farms on highly generous terms, paid her workers generous wages, and used her wealth to support the establishment of schools and cooperatives. In contrast to the otherwise deficient Xevdenite economy, Sura's land developed very well and her tenants established successful farms and businesses.
Sura was passionate about animal welfare, and her main preoccupation outside of landholding was horse breeding. She established and was the main benefactor of the League Against Animal Cruelty. She was a successful horse breeder and enthusiastic equestrian, who regularly toured her landholdings on horseback and was almost always seen in public wearing a riding coat. She fiercely criticised cruelty against horses in particular, shaming those who whipped their horses and mistreated them.
Sura died on 29 September 1901, aged 100. Her will bequeathed most of her wealth to Gylian charities and schools. Upon her death, most of her landholdings were taken over by the local agricultural cooperatives and villages, but suffered during the chaos of Karnaz's royal dictatorship and resulting unofficial civil war.
Legacy
Sura is commemorated through many monuments in the Gylian countryside, most of whom bear the following text:
"This monument was erected by the tenants and friends of the late Sura Eşiderea, in rememberance of a kind and considerate landlord and true friend of the people"
Virginia Inman similarly notes that Sura is "the only landlord to be discussed positively in Julie Legrand's The Green Book, and to be held in high regard by the Gylian left." Her reputation is reflected in the Gylian saying "If all landlords were like Sura…".
Most of the horse breeds that exist in Gylias today are descended from Sura's breeds.