Biography
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was born to a family of modest means in 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. He never obtained a university education. In 1569 he left for Italy where some elegies he wrote were published. He also joined a Spanish regiment there and was wounded while fighting in the Battle of Lepanto against the Turks in 1571; as a consequence, he lost the use of left hand. From then on he was called 'el manco de Lepanto' (the one-handed man of Lepanto). In 1575, while returning to Spain from the Netherlands, he was captured by Barbary pirates based in Algiers. He was held captive in Algiers until he was freed in 1580 when his ransom was paid.
Upon returning to Spain he married Catalina de Salazar y Palacios in 1584 and published La Galatea a year later; he was a supplier and a tax collector for a while.
Cervantes began writing Don Quixote in 1597 while imprisoned in Sevilla for debt. In 1605 he published Part I of his major work, formally known as El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha (The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha). Part II did not appear until 1615. Between Part I and Part II of Don Quixote he published Novelas Ejemplares (The Exemplary Novels), a collection of twelve short stories. In 1615, he published Ocho Comedias y Ocho Entremeses Nuevos Nunca Representias although his most famous play today, La Numancia, stayed unedited until the 18th century.
His novel Los Trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda was published posthumously one year after his death in 1616. Interestingly enough, he considered it to be his best work and far superior to Don Quixote.
His influence was such that in French and Spanish, the Spanish language is referred to proverbially as la langue/la lengua de Cervantes.
Did Cervantes and Shakespeare die on the same day?
It is often stated that Cervantes died on the same day as his English counterpart William Shakespeare, namely April 23, 1616. This is not correct. They did die on the same date, but not on the same day.
Spain adopted the Gregorian calendar (or New Style) immediately in 1582. But England stayed with the Julian calendar (Old Style) until 1752. In the 16th and 17th centuries the Gregorian calendar was 10 days ahead of the Julian calendar. So Cervantes died on April 23, 1616 in the Gregorian calendar, but Shakespeare died ten days later on April 23, 1616 in the Julian calendar, which is the same day as May 3, 1616 in the Gregorian calendar.
Works
- Pieces on the death of the queen (1569)
- La Galatea (1585)
- La Numancia (play)
- Los tratos de Argel (play)
- El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha (Don Quixote. Part 1) (1605)
- Novelas Ejemplares (The Exemplary Novels) (1613)
- Viaje del Parnaso (poem)
- Segunda parte del ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha (Don Quixote. Part 2) (1615)
- Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda (c.1615)
External links
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