Miguel de Cervantes

"Cervantes" redirects here. For other uses, see Cervantes (disambiguation).
"Miguel Cervantes" redirects here. For the American actor and singer, see Miguel Cervantes (actor).

Miguel de Cervantes
This portrait, attributed to Juan de Jáuregui,[a] is unauthenticated. No authenticated image of Cervantes exists.[1][2]
This portrait, attributed to Juan de Jáuregui,[a] is unauthenticated. No authenticated image of Cervantes exists.[1][2]
Born(1547-09-29)September 29, 1547
Alcalá de Henares, Spain
Died22 April 1616(1616-04-22) (aged 68)[3]
Madrid, Spain
Resting placeConvent of the Barefoot Trinitarians, Madrid
OccupationSoldier, tax collector, accountant, purchasing agent for Navy
(writing was an avocation which did not produce much income)
LanguageEarly Modern Spanish
Literary movementRenaissance literature, Mannerism, Baroque
Notable worksDon Quixote
Entremeses
Novelas ejemplares
SpouseCatalina de Salazar y Palacios
ChildrenIsabel c. 1584 (illegitimate)[4]
Signature

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (/sɜːrˈvæntiːz, -tɪz/ sur-VAN-teez, -⁠tiz;[5] Spanish: [miˈɣel de θeɾˈβantes saaˈβeðɾa]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS)[6] was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work considered as the first modern novel.[7][8][9] The novel has been labelled by many well-known authors as the "best book of all time"[b] and the "best and most central work in world literature".[10][9]

Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, which led to many of his early works being lost. Despite this, his influence and literary contribution are reflected by the fact that Spanish is often referred to as "the language of Cervantes".[11]

An incident in the story of Don Quixote (1870), by Robert Hillingford.

In 1569, Cervantes was forced to leave Spain and move to Rome, where he worked in the household of a cardinal. In 1570, he enlisted in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571 and lost the use of his left arm and hand. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates; after five years in captivity, he was ransomed, and returned to Madrid.

His first significant novel, titled La Galatea, was published in 1585, but he continued to work as a purchasing agent, and later as a government tax collector. Part One of Don Quixote was published in 1605, and Part Two in 1615. Other works include the 12 Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels); a long poem, the Viaje del Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus); and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses (Eight Plays and Eight Interludes). The novel Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda), was published posthumously in 1616.

The cave of Medrano (also known as the casa de Medrano) in Argamasilla de Alba, which has been known since the beginning of the 17th century, and according to the tradition of Argamasilla de Alba, was the prison of Don Miguel de Cervantes and the place where he conceived and began to write his famous work "Don Quixote de la Mancha".[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Chacón y Calvo, José María (1947–1948). "Retratos de Cervantes". Anales de la Academia Nacional de Artes y Letras (in Spanish). 27: 5–17.
  2. ^ Ferrari, Enrique Lafuente (1948). La novela ejemplar de los retratos de Cervantes (in Spanish).
  3. ^ Armstrong, Richard. "Time Out of Joint". Engines of Our Ingenuity. Lienhard, John (host, producer). Retrieved 9 December 2019 – via UH.edu.
  4. ^ McCrory 2006, p. 112.
  5. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). "Cervantes". Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
  6. ^ de Riquer Morera, Martín. "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra". Diccionario biográfico España (in Spanish). Real Academia de la Historia.
  7. ^ Bloom, Harold (13 December 2003). "The knight in the mirror". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  8. ^ Puchau de Lecea, Ana; Pérez de León, Vicente (25 June 2018). "Guide to the classics: Don Quixote, the world's first modern novel – and one of the best". The Conversation. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. ^ a b c "Don Quixote gets authors' votes". BBC News. 7 May 2002. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  10. ^ a b Chrisafis, Angelique (21 July 2003). "Don Quixote is the world's best book say the world's top authors". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  11. ^ Diego, Gerardo. "La lengua de Cervantes" (PDF) (in Spanish). Ministerio de la Presidencia de España. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2008. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  12. ^ "Casa – Cueva de Medrano - Ruta del Vino de La Mancha" (in European Spanish). 6 January 2022. Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Visita Museo Casa de Medrano | TCLM". www.turismocastillalamancha.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  14. ^ "Casa de Medrano". Turismo Argamasilla de Alba (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  15. ^ "CERVANTES en la BNE - Casa de Medrano que sirvió de prisión a Cervantes en Argamasilla de Alba". cervantes.bne.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Cueva Prisión de Medrano | Portal de Cultura de Castilla-La Mancha". cultura.castillalamancha.es. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Cueva Prisión de Medrano (Argamasilla de Alba). Turismo Ciudad Real". Turismo Ciudad Real (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 July 2024.
  18. ^ "Cueva de Medrano: leyenda y realidad del origen del Quijote". www.lanzadigital.com (in Spanish). 27 April 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2024.