Miguel de Cervantes: biography and works of the author of Don Quixote

protection click fraud

Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), appointed as the greatest exponent of Spanish literature with an immortal work, is considered a precursor of Spanish realism.

Playwright, poet and author, his main work is the novel Don Quixote of La Mancha, in 1605, considered the first best-seller in history and the first modern novel. It is the second most translated book in the world. The first is the Bible.

I'm content with little, but I want a lot.
Miguel de Cervantes

Biography

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was probably born on September 29, 1547 in the city of Alcalá de Henares, university city of Castile, Spain. He died on 22 April 1616 in Madrid.

Son of a deaf surgeon, Miguel de Cervantes began writing in 1569, but became a soldier in 1570 in a Spanish military unit in Italy.

The following year he was wounded in the naval battle of Greece's Lepanto against the Ottoman Turks. In 1575 he was captured by the Turks and spent the next few years in prison, only returning home in 1580.

Financial difficulties were a mark in Miguel de Cervantes' life. His father, being deaf since birth, worked in a precarious way, which forced the family to change addresses several times in search of better professional prospects.

instagram story viewer

According to researchers, the economic deprivations of childhood did not limit the intellectual formation of Miguel de Cervantes, considered an avid reader as a child.

There is no consensus on the author's education, which would not have been formal, but would have been in charge of a relative. It is also believed that Cervantes was educated by Jesuit priests.

Miguel de Cervantes' first publications were published in 1569, when the author contributed poetry to the memorial in honor of Elizabeth de Valois, married to King Felipe II.

At the Battle of Lepanto, he defended Spain against the Ottoman Empire, but suffered serious injuries to his chest and his left hand is reported to have been disabled or even amputated. Still with the physical limitation, he served for years as a soldier.

He was captured and taken to Algeria in 1575 while trying to return to Spain in the company of his brother Rodrigo.

In the five years he was imprisoned and made a slave, he tried unsuccessfully to escape several times. He was only released after bail was paid by his family and members of the Catholic Church, when he finally returned to his home.

The deal, which involved delivering 500 pieces of gold for their safe return to Spain, bankrupted the family. He marries Catalina de Salazar and Palacios in 1584.

Miguel de Cervantes' first work is the novel La Galetea, published in 1585. It is considered a pastoral novel, which was not successful.

The text was still adapted by Cervantes to the theater, but also without success. The author and his family remained in misery.

His greatest masterpiece, Don Quixote, was written while working as Commissar of Provisions for the Invincible Armada, begun in 1580.

The work was considered thankless, which consisted of collecting grain supplies for rural communities.

On two occasions, the Spanish author ended up in prison on charges of mismanagement because many settlers were unwilling to provide the supplies. He was also accused of public service malpractice.

The misadventures, however, allowed him to come into contact with the picturesque world of the countryside, a situation clearly reflected in Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha. The first part of the novel is published in 1605 and the second in 1615.

In April of the following year, stricken with cirrhosis and sagging shoulder blades due to arthritis, Miguel de Cervantes died. He was buried in the Barrio de Las Letras convent in Madrid.

The building was rebuilt in 1673, but the tombs of the artist and his wife were lost.

Don Quixote

The romance Don Quixote of La Mancha, first published as The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha, is a classic of literature.

It is a satire on chivalry novels. The work tells the story of an elderly man who falls so in love with ancient stories and brave knights that he seeks to relive the adventures of these fantasies.

Lost in his own world, Don Quixote convinces the peasant Sancho Panza to serve him as his squire.

Wrapped in fanciful realism, he fights a windmill, which he mistakes for a giant. The novel ends when the main character regains consciousness.