THE MEMORY OF THE CITY
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People
Karina Etessidta
Íomeía Curatrix
Personal Name: Karina
Familial Name: Etessidta
Cultural Title: Íomeía
Professional Title: Curatrix

Birth: 1102 iky
Death: 3066 iky
Lifespan: 2356.8 tgc

Species: Lilitu
Gender: Shúthilda

Biography: Head curator at the Memory of the City in Retrograde Doisseia c. 1350–1925. Active in city life and a highly decorated researcher at the VLW in Anterograde Doisseia, Karina vocally espoused the belief that settlement on a world with so many other cultures had made the Lilitai a dying breed, as evidenced by the extensive Lyrisclensian participation in their parliament and the abysmal population growth rate. Karina's primary research interest was in the history of the Lilitai, especially the Illeran period (672-829 lilpo). She was key in efforts to preserve and promote traditional Lilitic art, and undoubtedly the later eminence of Lilitika in academic culture on Thet can be traced in part to her influence. By the standards of mid-planetary-era Thet, Karina could be (and sometimes was) described as an outspoken and ardent nationalist, although this was against a milieu of civility and moderate politics.

The most significant contribution Karina gave to history is her spearheading of the recolonization of Illera in 1924. Prompted by Pesenese plans to develop Illera for tourism, Karina successfully lobbied the Lilikoisan Parliament to install a permanent facility there. To her delight, the outpost staff soon planned to rebuild temples and other amenities, and subsequently requested that she join them in restoring the city of Koitra, the largest restoration project in the history of Lilitic art preservation.

Etessidta's impact, true to her name, lasted long after her passing in 3066 iky. Centuries later, following the discovery of Wanisin, comparisons were drawn between Karina's outlook and that of the Wanisinese state, with the insinuation that Karina would have wanted the Lilitai to grow bolder than the Illerans had ever been in her wake. The Empress at the time, Tamaksia I, played on these connections, and it is little surprise that her successor, Ioya II, came from a background nearly identical to that of Karina: a researcher at the Memory of the City specializing in the original loyalist movement, the Mitrajethíasa.

It is perhaps a note of poetic irony that Ioya II lost Wanisin's first interstellar war against Illera, which subsequently replaced her with a puppet ruler.

Second Illera colony: Initiated.