SS La Touraine was an ocean liner that sailed for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique from the 1890s to the 1920s. Built in France in 1891, she was primarily employed in transatlantic service on the North Atlantic. The liner was scrapped in Dunkirk in October 1923.

La Touraine was laid down by Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (CGT) in Saint-Nazaire and launched 21 March 1890. Built for France to New York service, she was the fifth-largest steamer in the world at the time of her launch. She had a gross tonnage (GT) of 8,893 tons and measured 158.55 metres (520 ft 2 in) long between perpendiculars, and was 17.07 metres (56 ft 0 in) wide. Equipped with twin triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellors that drove her at 19 knots (35 km/h), she was outfitted with two funnels and four masts. La Touraine was initially equipped with accommodations for 392 first-class, 98 second-class, and 600 third-class passengers. La Touraine sailed on her maiden voyage from Le Havre to New York on 20 June 1891.

The Touraine (French pronunciation: [tuʁɛn]) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre.

Traversed by the Loire and its tributaries the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne, the Touraine makes up a part of the Paris Basin. It is well known for its viticulture. The TGV, which connects Tours with Paris in less than an hour, has made the Touraine a place of residence for people who work in the capital but seek a different quality of life.

The Touraine takes its name from a Celtic tribe called the Turones, who inhabited the region about two thousand years ago. In 1044, the control of Touraine was given to the Angevins, who (as the House of Plantagenet) became kings of England in 1154, the castle of Chinon being their greatest stronghold. In 1205, Philip II Augustus of France regained Touraine. At this time, Touraine was made into a royal duchy. In 1429, Saint Joan of Arc had a historic meeting with the future King of France Charles VII at Chinon. Throughout the late 15th and 16th centuries, Touraine was a favorite residence of French kings, and the dark and gloomy castles were converted to Renaissance châteaux; for this reason the region was titled "The Garden of France". These same châteaux became popular tourist attractions in modern times. The royal duchy became a province in 1584, and was divided into departments in 1790.

Javier Sicilia (1956, Mexico City) is a poet, essayist, novelist, and journalist in Mexico. He contributes to various print media such as the Mexico City daily La Jornada and Proceso magazine. He was founder and director of El Telar ("The Loom"), coordinator of several writing workshops, is a film and television writer, editor of Poesía magazine, a member of the editorial board of Los Universitarios y Cartapacios, the National System of Creators of Art since 1995, and is a professor of literature, aesthetics and screenwriting at Universidad La Salle at Cuernavaca and was director of the now-defunct magazine Ixtus.

Sicilia inherited his love of literature and poetry from his father, who was also a poet. An avid reader of Saints Teresa of Ávila and John of the Cross, Sicilia is a poet whose themes are linked with Catholicism and Christian mysticism. Later he met the Austrian philosopher Ivan Illich, of whose thought Sicilia has become one of the main promoters among Mexican intellectuals.

As a contributor to Proceso and as the editor of the magazine "Conspiratio", Sicilia writes about deals variously current philosophical, artistic and literary topics. In 2009 he was awarded the Aguascalientes National Award in Poetry, one of the most prestigious honors in Mexican literature.