All books by Miguel Cervantes. Biography of Miguel Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra(Spanish) Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ; presumably September 29, Alcala de Henares - April 22, Madrid) is a world famous Spanish writer. First of all, he is known as the author of one of the greatest works of world literature - the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.”

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5

✪ Miguel de Cervantes World

✪ Cervantes Miguel de - The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha

✪ Cervantes, the great writer (narrated by Ilya Buzukashvili)

✪ Miguel de Cervantes "Don Quixote" (ONLINE AUDIOBOOKS) Listen

✪ Cervantes, Miguel de

Subtitles

Biography

early years

Miguel Cervantes was born into a family of impoverished nobles, in the city of Alcala de Henares. His father, hidalgo Rodrigo de Cervantes, was a modest doctor, his mother, Doña Leonor de Cortina, was the daughter of a nobleman who lost his fortune. There were seven children in their family, Miguel was the fourth child [ ] . Very little is known about the early stages of Cervantes' life. The date of his birth is considered to be September 29, 1547 (the day of the Archangel Michael). This date is established approximately on the basis of the records of the church register and the then existing tradition of giving a child a name in honor of the saint whose feast day falls on his birthday. It is reliably known that Cervantes was baptized on October 9, 1547 in the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor in the city of Alcala de Henares.

Some biographers claim that Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca, but there is no convincing evidence for this version. There is also an unconfirmed version that he studied with the Jesuits in Cordoba or Seville.

According to Abraham Chaim, president of the Sephardic community in Jerusalem, Cervantes’ mother came from a family of baptized Jews. Cervantes's father was a nobleman, but his hometown of Alcala de Henares is the home of his ancestors, which is located in the center of the juderia, that is, the Jewish quarter. Cervantes' house is located in the former Jewish part of the city [ ] .

Activities of the writer in Italy

The reasons that prompted Cervantes to leave Castile remain unknown. Whether he was a student, or a fugitive from justice, or fleeing from a royal arrest warrant for wounding Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is another mystery about his life. In any case, having left for Italy, he did what other young Spaniards did for their careers in one way or another. Rome discovered its church rituals and grandeur for the young writer. In a city replete with ancient ruins, Cervantes discovered ancient art, and also concentrated his attention on Renaissance art, architecture and poetry (his knowledge of Italian literature can be seen in his works). He was able to find in the achievements of the ancient world a powerful impetus for the revival of art. Thus, the enduring love for Italy, which is visible in his later works, was in its own way a desire to return to the early period of the Renaissance.

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

There is another, unlikely, version of the loss of a hand. Due to the poverty of his parents, Cervantes received a meager education and, unable to find a means of subsistence, was forced to steal. Allegedly, it was for theft that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version is not credible - if only because at that time thieves’ hands were no longer cut off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

The Duke of Sessé, presumably in 1575, gave Miguel letters of introduction (lost by Miguel during his capture) for the king and ministers, as he reported in his testimony dated July 25, 1578. He asked the king to show mercy and help to the brave soldier.

In Algerian captivity

In September 1575, Miguel Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo were returning from Naples to Barcelona aboard the galley "The Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the approach to the Catalan coast, the galley was attacked by Algerian corsairs. The attackers were resisted, as a result of which many members of the Sun's crew were killed, and the rest were captured and taken to Algeria. :236 Letters of recommendation found on Miguel Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. Cervantes spent 5 years (-) in Algerian captivity, tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity he was often subjected to various tortures.

Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition dated March 17, 1578, indicated that his son “was captured in a galley.” Sun“, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “received wounds from two arquebus shots in the chest, and was maimed in the left arm, which he could not use.” The father did not have the funds to ransom Miguel due to the fact that he had previously ransomed his other son, Rodrigo, who was also on that ship, from captivity. The witness to this petition, Mateo de Santisteban, noted that he had known Miguel for eight years, and met him when he was 22 or 23 years old, on the day of the battle of Lepanto. He also testified that Miguel “ on the day of the battle he was sick and had a fever", and he was advised to stay in bed, but he decided to take part in the battle. For his distinction in battle, the captain presented him with four ducats in addition to his usual pay.

The news (in the form of letters) about Miguel’s stay in Algerian captivity was delivered by soldier Gabriel de Castañeda, a resident of the mountain valley of Carriedo from the village of Salazar. According to his information, Miguel was held captive for about two years (that is, since 1575) by a Greek convert to Islam, captain Arnautriomas.

Miguel's mother's petition from 1580 stated that she asked " give permission for the export of 2000 ducats in the form of goods from the kingdom of Valencia" to ransom her son.

Service in Seville

In Seville he dealt with the affairs of the Spanish fleet on the orders of Antonio de Guevara.

Intention to travel to America

Miguel de Cervantes. Edifying short stories. Translation from Spanish by B. Krzhevsky. Moscow. Publishing house "Fiction". 1983

Personal life

Almost on his deathbed, Cervantes did not stop working; a few days before his death, he took monastic vows. On April 22, 1616, his life ended (he died of dropsy), which the bearer himself in his philosophical humor called “a long indiscretion” and, leaving which, he “carried away on his shoulders a stone with an inscription that read the destruction of his hopes.” However, according to the customs of that time, the date of his death was recorded as the date of his funeral - April 23. Because of this, it is sometimes said that the date of death of Cervantes coincides with the date of death of another great writer - William Shakespeare, in fact, Cervantes died 11 days earlier (since, at that time, the Gregorian calendar was in force in Spain, and the Julian calendar in England). April 23, 1616 is sometimes considered the end of the Renaissance.

Heritage

The monument to Cervantes was erected in Madrid only in 1835 (sculptor Antonio Sola); on the pedestal there are two inscriptions in Latin and Spanish: “To Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, king of the Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV.”

Cervantes's worldwide significance rests chiefly on his novel Don Quixote, a complete, comprehensive expression of his varied genius. Conceived as a satire on the knightly romances that flooded all literature at that time, which the author definitely states in the “Prologue,” this work little by little, perhaps even independently of the author’s will, turned into a deep psychological analysis of human nature, two sides of mental activity - noble, but crushed by reality, idealism and realistic practicality.

Both of these sides found brilliant manifestation in the immortal types of the hero of the novel and his squire; in their sharp opposition they - and this is the deep psychological truth - nevertheless constitute one person; only the fusion of these two essential aspects of the human spirit constitutes a harmonious whole. Don Quixote is funny, his adventures depicted with a brilliant brush - if you don’t think about their inner meaning - cause uncontrollable laughter; but it is soon replaced by a thinking and feeling reader with another laughter, “laughter through tears,” which is an essential and integral condition of any great humorous creation.

In Cervantes’s novel, in the fate of his hero, it was precisely world irony that was reflected in a high ethical form. In the beatings and all kinds of other insults to which the knight is subjected - although they are somewhat anti-artistic in a literary sense - lies one of the best expressions of this irony. Turgenev noted another very important moment in the novel - the death of his hero: at this moment all the great significance of this person becomes accessible to everyone. When his former squire, wanting to console him, tells him that they will soon go on knightly adventures, “No,” the dying man answers, “all this is gone forever, and I ask everyone for forgiveness.”

Bibliography

"Galatea", 1585
"The Destruction of Numancia"
"Algerian Morals"
“Sea Battle” (not preserved)
“The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”, 1605, 1615
“Edifying Stories”, collection, 1613
"Journey to Parnassus", 1614
“Eight comedies and eight interludes, new, never presented on stage,” collection, 1615
"The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda", 1617

Russian translations

The first Russian translator of Cervantes, according to the latest data, is N. I. Oznobishin, who translated the short story “Cornelia” in 1761. Then it was translated by M. Yu. Lermontov and V. A. Zhukovsky.

Memory

The asteroid (529) Preciosa, discovered in 1904, was named in honor of the heroine of Cervantes’ novella “The Gypsy Girl” (according to another version, it was named after the title of a play by Pius Alexander Wolff, written in 1810).
The asteroids (571) Dulcinea (discovered in 1905) and (3552) Don Quixote (discovered in 1983) are named in honor of the heroine and hero of the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”.
In 1965, Salvador Dali made the series "Five Immortal Spaniards", which included Cervantes, El Cid, El Greco, Velazquez and Don Quixote.
In 1966, a USSR postage stamp dedicated to Cervantes was issued.
In 1976, a crater was named in honor of Cervantes. Cervantes on Mercury.
On September 18, 2005, in honor of Cervantes, the asteroid, discovered on February 2, 1992 by E. V. Elst at the European Southern Observatory, was given the name “79144 Cervantes”.
The Plaza de España in Madrid is decorated with a sculptural composition, the central figure of which is Cervantes and his most famous heroes.
The monument to Miguel Cervantes was erected in Moscow in Friendship Park.
An Argentinean is named after Cervantes.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Spanish: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra). Born presumably on September 29, 1547 in Alcala de Henares - died on April 23, 1616 in Madrid. Famous Spanish writer. First of all, he is known as the author of one of the greatest works of world literature - the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.”

Miguel Cervantes was born into a family of impoverished nobles in the city of Alcala de Henares. His father, Hidalgo Rodrigo de Cervantes, was a modest doctor, his mother, Doña Leonor de Cortina, was the daughter of a nobleman who lost his fortune. There were seven children in their family, Miguel became the fourth child. Very little is known about the early stages of Cervantes' life. The date of his birth is considered to be September 29, 1547 (the day of the Archangel Michael). This date is established approximately on the basis of the records of the church register and the then existing tradition of giving a child a name in honor of the saint whose feast day falls on his birthday. It is reliably known that Cervantes was baptized on October 9, 1547 in the Church of Santa Maria la Mayor in the city of Alcala de Henares.

Rome discovered its church rituals and grandeur for the young writer. In a city replete with ancient ruins, Cervantes discovered ancient art and also concentrated his attention on Renaissance art, architecture and poetry (his knowledge of Italian literature can be seen in his works). He was able to find in the achievements of the ancient world a powerful impetus for the revival of art. Thus, the enduring love for Italy, which is visible in his later works, was in its own way a desire to return to the early period of the Renaissance.

By 1570, Cervantes was enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish Marine Regiment located in Naples. He remained there about a year before entering active service. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed aboard the Marquise, part of the Holy League galley fleet that defeated the Ottoman flotilla at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras on 7 October.

Despite the fact that Cervantes was sick with a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to go into battle. According to eyewitnesses, he said: “I prefer, even when sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier ... rather than hide under the protection of the deck.” He fought bravely on board the ship and received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the forearm. The last wound deprived his left arm of mobility. In his poem “Journey to Parnassus” he had to say that he “lost the functionality of his left hand for the sake of the glory of his right” (he was thinking about the success of the first part of “Don Quixote”). Cervantes always recalled his participation in this battle with pride: he believed that he had taken part in an event that would determine the course of European history.

After the Battle of Lepanto, Miguel Cervantes remained in hospital for 6 months until his wounds healed enough for him to continue serving. From 1572 to 1575 he continued his service, being mainly in Naples. In addition, he took part in expeditions to Corfu and Navarino, and witnessed the capture of Tunis and La Goulette by the Turks in 1574. In addition, Cervantes was in Portugal, and also carried out trips on duty to Oran (1580s); served in Seville.

The Duke of Sessé, presumably in 1575, gave Miguel letters of introduction (lost by Miguel during his capture) for the king and ministers, as he reported in his certificate dated July 25, 1578. He asked the king to show mercy and help to the brave soldier.

In September 1575, Miguel Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo were returning from Naples to Barcelona aboard the galley "The Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the approach to the Catalan coast, the galley was attacked by Algerian corsairs. The attackers were resisted, as a result of which many members of the Sun's crew were killed, and the rest were captured and taken to Algeria. The letters of recommendation discovered on Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. Cervantes spent 5 years in Algerian captivity (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity he was often subjected to various tortures.

Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition dated March 17, 1578, stated that his son “was captured in the galley Sun, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “received wounds from two arquebus shots in the chest, and was injured in his left hand, which he cannot use.” The father did not have the funds to ransom Miguel due to the fact that he had previously ransomed his other son, Rodrigo, who was also on that ship, from captivity. The witness to this petition, Mateo de Santisteban, noted that he had known Miguel for eight years, and met him when he was 22 or 23 years old, on the day of the battle of Lepanto. He testified that Miguel “was sick and had a fever on the day of the battle” and was advised to stay in bed, but he decided to take part in the battle. For his distinction in battle, the captain presented him with four ducats in addition to his usual pay.

A petition from Miguel's mother in 1580 reported that she requested "permission to export 2,000 ducats in goods from the kingdom of Valencia" to ransom her son.

On October 10, 1580, a notarial deed was drawn up in Algeria in the presence of Miguel Cervantes and 11 witnesses in order to ransom him from captivity. On October 22, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarians), Juan Gil “Liberator of Captives,” drew up a report based on this notarial act confirming Cervantes’ services to the king.

After his release from captivity, Miguel served with his brother in Portugal, as well as with the Marquis de Santa Cruz.

By order of the king, Miguel made a trip to Oran in the 1580s.

In Seville he dealt with the affairs of the Spanish fleet on the orders of Antonio de Guevara.

On May 21, 1590, in Madrid, Miguel petitions the Council of the Indies to grant him a vacant position in the American colonies, in particular in the “Revision Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Soconusco in Guatemala, or Accountant of the Galleys of Cartagena, or Corregidor of the City of La Paz.” , and all because he still has not been shown favors for his long (22 years) service to the Crown. The President of the Council of the Indies on June 6, 1590 left a note on the petition that the submitter “deserves to be given some service and can be trusted.”

On December 12, 1584, Miguel Cervantes married a nineteen-year-old native of the city of Esquivias, Catalina Palacios de Salazar, from whom he received a small dowry. He had one illegitimate daughter, Isabel de Cervantes.

The best of Cervantes' biographers, Shawl, characterized him as follows: “The poet, flighty and dreamy, lacked worldly skills, and he did not benefit either from his military campaigns or from his works. He was a disinterested soul, incapable of gaining fame or counting on success, alternately enchanted or indignant, irresistibly given over to all his impulses... He was seen naively in love with everything beautiful, generous and noble, indulging in romantic dreams or love dreams, ardent on the battlefield, then immersed in deep thought, then carefree cheerful... From the analysis of his life he emerges with honor, full of generous and noble activity, an amazing and naive prophet, heroic in his misfortunes and kind in his genius.”

Miguel's literary activity began quite late, when he was 38 years old. The first work, Galatea (1585), was followed by a large number of dramatic plays, which enjoyed little success.

To earn his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the quartermaster service; he is entrusted with purchasing provisions for the “Invincible Armada”. In fulfilling these duties, he suffers great failures, even ends up on trial and spends some time in prison. His life in those years was a whole chain of severe hardships, hardships and disasters.

In the midst of all this, he does not stop his writing activity, not yet publishing anything. His wanderings prepared material for his future work, serving as a means for studying Spanish life in its various manifestations.

From 1598 to 1603 there is almost no news about the life of Cervantes. In 1603, he appeared in Valladolid, where he was engaged in small private affairs, giving him a meager income, and in 1604, the first part of the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” was published, which had enormous success in Spain (the first edition was sold out in a few weeks publication and in the same year 4 others) and abroad (translations into many languages). However, it did not improve the author’s financial situation in the least, but only strengthened the hostile attitude towards him, expressed in ridicule, slander, and persecution.

From then on, until his death, Cervantes’s literary activity did not stop: between 1604 and 1616, the second part of Don Quixote, all the short stories, many dramatic works, the poem “Journey to Parnassus” appeared, and the novel “Journey to Parnassus” was written, published after the author’s death. Persiles and Sikhismunda."

Almost on his deathbed, Cervantes did not stop working; a few days before his death, he took monastic vows. On April 23, 1616, his life ended (he died of dropsy), which the bearer himself in his philosophical humor called “long indiscretion” and, leaving which, he “carried away on his shoulders a stone with an inscription that read the destruction of his hopes.”

Cervantes died in Madrid, where he had moved from Valladolid shortly before his death. The irony of fate followed the great humorist beyond the grave: his grave remained lost, since there was not even an inscription on his tomb (in one of the churches). The remains of the writer were discovered and identified only in March 2015 in one of the crypts in the monastery de las Trinitarias. A monument to him was erected in Madrid only in 1835 (sculptor Antonio Sola); on the pedestal there are two inscriptions in Latin and Spanish: “To Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, king of the Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV.”

In Cervantes’s novel, in the fate of his hero, it was precisely world irony that was reflected in a high ethical form. In the beatings and all kinds of other insults to which the knight is subjected - although they are somewhat anti-artistic in a literary sense - lies one of the best expressions of this irony. Turgenev noted another very important moment in the novel - the death of his hero: at this moment all the great significance of this person becomes accessible to everyone. When his former squire, wanting to console him, tells him that they will soon go on knightly adventures, “no,” the dying man replies, “all this is gone forever, and I ask everyone for forgiveness.”

>Biographies of writers and poets

Brief biography of Miguel Cervantes

Miguel Cervantes is an outstanding Spanish writer of the 16th century, author of the world-famous novel about Don Quixote of La Man. Born on September 29, 1547 in Alcala de Henares into a poor noble family. The father of the future writer was a surgeon. Miguel was the fourth child in a large family. There are suggestions that in his youth Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca, as well as with the Jesuits of Seville or Cordoba. In 1569, after a serious street skirmish, he fled to Rome, where he worked for some time in the retinue of Cardinal Acquaviva.

In 1571, Cervantes took part in a naval battle and was seriously wounded in the forearm. After this, his left hand remained inactive forever. He took part in many sea expeditions, visited Tunisia, Spain and even in Algerian captivity for five years. In 1580, he was finally able to return to his homeland. In December 1584 he married Catalina de Palacios. That same year, he had an illegitimate daughter from another woman. Being a retired soldier, he decided to devote himself to literary art. Cervantes's first plays were not very successful on stage. Recognition came with the pastoral novel Galatea (1585).

However, there was no large income from writing, so Cervantes moved to Seville and began working as a commissar for food supplies. He kept documentation carelessly, for which he was arrested more than once. During one of his stays in prison, the image of a man capable of knightly deeds arose in his head. This was the idea of Don Quixote. He worked on his main book for many years, opening up new perspectives for the plot. From 1600 to 1604, he worked hard to create the first part of the novel. In 1604 he moved to Valladolid, from where he negotiated with a Madrid bookseller.

At the end of 1604, “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of Laman” was published in a small edition. The novel was undoubtedly a success. This is evidenced by the fact that a second edition soon appeared in Madrid. The author himself republished his book twice with copyright amendments. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza became national heroes and participants in carnival processions in the cities of Spain. The writer’s financial situation, however, did not improve in any way; on the contrary, hostility towards him became more pronounced. The last decade of his life he worked hard and published new works. Miguel Cervantes died of dropsy on April 23, 1616, on the same day as the great Shakespeare.

It was born thanks to the writer Miguel de Cervantes. Now the parody romance of chivalry is a monument of world literature, but at one time the book did a disservice to its author - de Cervantes was persecuted for libel and even threatened with death.

Childhood and youth

Miguel de Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547 in the Spanish city of Alcala de Henares. Half a month later, on October 9, an entry appeared in the baptismal register of the parish church of Santa Maria la Mayor:

“Miguel, son of Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife Leonor, was baptized; his godfathers were Juan Pardo; the ceremony was performed by the Rev. Bartolomé Serrano.”

Church where Miguel de Cervantes was baptized / Wikipedia

It is a mistake to believe that the boy received the famous name Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra at birth. In fact, Saavedra appeared already at a conscious age, presumably as a reference to the name of the Chilean commune where the Cervantes family came from.

Father Rodrigo, a native of Galicia, worked as a barber, “opening blood.” On duty, he set bones, performed bloodletting, and attended to “minor medical needs.” Miguel's mother, Leonor de Cortinas, is the daughter of a bankrupt nobleman who was sold into marriage in 1543.

Wikipedia

In addition to the future author of Don Quixote, the Cervantes family raised 6 children: Andres (b. 1543), Andrea (b. 1544), Louise (b. 1546), Rodrigo (b. 1550) , Magdalena (b. 1554) and Juan. The latter is known only thanks to the father's will.

It is believed that as a child, Miguel was often transported around the country and then sent to the Imperial School in Madrid, a Jesuit school for boys. As evidence of this fact, they cite laudatory reviews of the Order of the Roman Catholic Church in the “Story about a Conversation between Dogs” from the Edifying Stories. A different point of view - Miguel studied at the University of Salamanca. Both versions are called into question.

Real Academia de la Historia

At the age of 22, de Cervantes unwittingly found himself in a street fight, and a certain Antonio de Sigura suffered at his hands. It is said that fear of arrest prompted Miguel to leave his native Spain. Italy became my new home - a country that is friendly to talented, ambitious young people.

In Rome, de Cervantes discovered the fine arts, architecture, and poetry of the Renaissance. In his literary works, connoisseurs later saw references to Italian folklore, a parody of many national writers.

Military service

In 1570, de Cervantes was enlisted in the Spanish Marine Regiment Infantería de Marina, which was stationed in Naples (then the city was Spanish territory). A year passed before the young man was called to battle. In September 1571, Miguel sailed to the Gulf of Patras, where the Battle of Lepanto took place on October 7 between the Holy League and the Ottoman Empire.

Documentary film “Once upon a time there lived a poor knight... Miguel de Cervantes”

When the battle was ripe, Miguel de Cervantes lay in a fever. Despite his state of health, the young man demanded to be allowed to fight, saying that he would rather die for his God and king than be sheltered by his comrades in the cabin. The future writer received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the left arm; the last bullet actually left de Cervantes one-armed. In his first work, Galatea, referring to the early success of Don Quixote, he wrote:

“I lost the movement of my left hand for the glory of my right.”

It took de Cervantes six months to recover; in 1572 he returned to duty. Over the next 3 years, the man stayed mainly in Naples, occasionally making expeditions to the islands of Corfu and Navarino. Miguel witnessed the battle for La Goulette, the former capital of Tunisia, and the fall of this state.

In the autumn of 1575, de Cervantes sailed from Naples to Barcelona with letters of introduction for the King of Spain. In them, the regiment commander praised the soldier’s merits and offered to promote him. Fate decreed otherwise: on the morning of September 26, the corsairs boarded de Cervantes’s ship.

Wikipedia

The future writer and, according to some evidence, his brother Rodrigo were taken to Algeria (then the center of the Ottoman Empire) and captured. The man remained in slavery until 1580, and tried unsuccessfully to escape 4 times. Ultimately, the parents bought their sons' freedom from the Ottomans for a lot of money - letters of recommendation to the king increased the demand for de Cervantes' head.

This fragment of biography is repeatedly mentioned in the works of de Cervantes. It is believed that in the story of the captive from “Don Quixote”, the plays “Life in Algiers” and “The Dungeons of Algiers” there are naturalistic scenes that a person who was not in slavery could not describe.

Career

Freed from captivity, de Cervantes lived with his parents in Madrid. By that time, he had already begun to write, but, like many authors of that time, he could not support himself on royalties. Creativity had to be combined with ordinary work.

Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes / Fernando Selma, Wikipedia

In Andalusia, Miguel worked as a purchasing agent for the Spanish fleet: he looked for favorable prices for grain, oil, and other products, and then delivered purchases to the ships. One day he left money intended for completing the next ship with a banker. He, being dishonest, spent everything. For this, the writer spent several months in prison. Presumably, it was in prison that the idea of Don Quixote was born.

De Cervantes later worked as a tax collector and accountant. In the last years of his life, from 1610 to 1616, the man lived on a royal pension, which allowed him to devote to literature around the clock.

Books

De Cervantes set out on the literary path when he was 38 years old. The debut "Galatea" (1585) was written in the genre classic for his time - a pastoral novel. The work remained unnoticed by high society, and the writer himself was not delighted with the “empty” idea of his first attempt at writing.

While imprisoned, de Cervantes, who naturally possessed lively humor, came up with the idea of composing a parody of the chivalric romances popular in the 16th century. The prisoner created the image of an elderly madman who, having read stories about heroes in armor, decided to travel the world in search of adventure.

The noble Don Quixote from the village of La Mancha is accompanied by his antipode Sancho Panza - a simple peasant who is used to looking at things pragmatically. It is important for him to receive the promised donkeys and the island, to protect the owner from danger and to explain in a timely manner that windmills are not dragons.

The prototype of a romantic gone mad is the playwright, whose works surpassed the books of de Cervantes in popularity. At one time, the poet, tired of writing autobiographical love stories, went on a trip around the world by ship, leaving his wife and children. It can be said that Miguel not only created the greatest work of the Golden Age, but also had a good laugh at the enemy.

The novel about the Knight of the Sad Image was published in two volumes: “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” in 1605, “The Second Part of the Brilliant Knight Don Quixote of La Mancha” in 1615. The continuation was, rather, a necessity: in 1614, a certain Avellaneda, whose identity has not yet been revealed, allegedly published the second part of the novel “Don Quixote of Avellaneda.” The work was directed against de Cervantes.

Wikipedia

Don Quixote is a great contribution to world culture. called de Cervantes's novel "the most sublime work of human thought." It was in Don Quixote that the quote “to judge the pudding must be tasted” was born, meaning that everything is tested in practice.

De Cervantes believed that his novels should be for the Spaniards what the short stories of Giovanni Boccaccio were for the Italians. For this purpose, the writer created “Edifying Stories” (1613) - a collection consisting of 12 stories. In the narrative, the writer acts as a humanist, giving the characters the right to freedom and happiness. The characters achieve what they want through suffering, but that only makes the joy of victory sweeter.

At the dawn of his life, de Cervantes composed the novel “The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda,” which was published after the death of the writer, in 1617. Probably, in this work the Spaniard tried to imitate the ancient Greek Heliodor.

Personal life

Little is known about the personal life of Miguel de Cervantes. On December 12, 1584, the 19-year-old noblewoman Catalina Palacios de Salazar became the wife of the 37-year-old writer. The girl's dowry helped the couple live comfortably for some time. At the same time, de Cervantes had an illegitimate daughter, Isabel, with actress Ana de Rojas. As for the union with his young wife, it turned out to be short-lived and broke up at the end of the 1580s.

Death

The 68-year-old de Cervantes died in Madrid on April 22, 1616. According to modern doctors, the cause of death was type II diabetes caused by cirrhosis of the liver. These ailments explain the intense thirst that the writer complained of in the last years of his life.

According to his will, on April 23, de Cervantes was buried in the Monastery of the Barefoot Trinitarians in the center of Madrid. In 1673, during the reconstruction of the holy place, the remains of the writer, as well as other people, were transferred to a safe place for storage, and then could not be found - the tomb had no identification marks.

Wikipedia

In 2014, archaeologists discovered a crypt in which 10 people were buried. The initials MS were stamped on the inside of the lid of one of the coffins. Based on portraits of the writer, three bullet wounds received at the Battle of Lepanto, and the fact that at the time of his death the author of Don Quixote had only 6 teeth left, scientists concluded that they were indeed the remains of de Cervantes. On June 11, 2015, they were buried in the monastery under the tombstone "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra".

Bibliography

1585 – “Galatea”
1605 – “The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”
1613 – “Edifying Stories”
1614 – “Journey to Parnassus”
1615 – “The second part of the brilliant knight Don Quixote of La Mancha”
1615 – “Eight comedies and eight interludes, new, never presented on stage”
1617 – “The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda”

Miguel was born on September 29, 1547 into a bankrupt noble family in the Spanish town of Alcala de Henares. There is no reliable information about the writer’s childhood and adolescence.

At the age of 23, Cervantes enlisted in the Spanish Marines. During one of the battles, he was seriously wounded: a bullet pierced the young soldier’s forearm, permanently depriving his left arm of mobility.

Having recovered his health in the hospital, Miguel returned to duty. He had the opportunity to participate in sea expeditions and visit many overseas countries. During his next voyage in 1575, he was captured by Algerian pirates, who demanded a large ransom for him. Cervantes spent five years in captivity, making several escape attempts. However, each time the fugitive was caught and severely punished.

The long-awaited liberation came with Christian missionaries, and Miguel returned to service.

Creation

Cervantes realized his true calling at a fairly mature age. His first novel, Galatea, was written in 1585. Like several dramatic plays that followed it, it was not a success.

However, even in the most difficult times, when the money he earned was barely enough to feed himself, Miguel did not stop composing, drawing inspiration from his wandering life.

The muse took pity on the persistent writer only in 1604, when he wrote the first part of his imperishable novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.” The book immediately aroused keen interest among readers not only in his native Spain, but also in other countries.

Unfortunately, the publication of the novel did not bring Cervantes the long-awaited financial stability, but he did not give up. Soon he published a continuation of the “heroic” exploits of the hidalgo, as well as several other works.

Personal life

Miguel's wife was the noblewoman Catalina Palacios de Salazar. According to a brief biography of Cervantes, this marriage turned out to be childless, but the writer had one illegitimate daughter, whom he recognized - Isabella de Cervantes.

Death

While serving in the Marine Corps, Cervantes proved himself to be a brave soldier. He took part in battles even during a severe fever, not wanting to let his comrades down and lie down on the deck of the ship.
Unfortunately for Miguel, during his captivity a letter of recommendation was found on him, which is why the Algerian pirates decided that they had come across an influential person. As a result, the ransom amount was increased several times, and the writer’s widowed mother had to sell all her modest property in order to free her son from captivity.
Cervantes's first fee was three silver spoons, which he received at a poetry competition.
At the end of his life, Miguel de Cervantes completely reconsidered his position in life, and literally a few days before his death, he cut his hair as a monk.
For a long time, no one knew the exact burial place of the outstanding Spanish writer. Only in 2015 did archaeologists manage to discover his remains, which were solemnly reburied in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Madrid.