How is the rating calculated?
◊ The rating is calculated based on the points accrued in the last week
◊ Points are awarded for:
⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
⇒ vote for a star
⇒ star commenting

Biography, life story of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda is a Spanish writer. Author of the famous novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.

early years

Miguel was born in the Spanish city of Alcala de Henares on September 29, 1547. He became the fourth of seven children of Rodrigo de Cervantes, a doctor, and Doña Leonor de Cortina, the daughter of a ruined nobleman. On October 9, 1547, Miguel was baptized in the local church of Santa Maria la Mayor.

The youthful years of Miguel de Cervantes are shrouded in mystery, there is no reliable information about his life. Some historians claim that the writer was educated at the University of Salamanca, while others believe that Miguel studied with the Jesuits in Seville or Cordoba.

At a young age, Miguel de Cervantes left for Italy (the reason for his move is unknown). In Rome, de Cervantes fell in love with ancient art, the Renaissance, architecture and poetry.

Military service. hard fate

In 1570, Miguel became a soldier in the Spanish Marines stationed in Naples. In 1571, de Cervantes sailed on the Marquis, which was part of the galley fleet of the Holy League. In October, the Marquis defeated the Ottoman flotilla during the Battle of the Gulf of Patras. It is curious that on the day of the battle, Miguel was tormented by a fever, but the soldier, despite the fever and fatigue, was called into battle. Miguel fought bravely and was badly wounded. Three bullets pierced his body - two hit the chest, one - the left forearm. The last bullet rendered de Cervantes' arm motionless.

After the end of the battle, Miguel spent six months in the hospital. Then, from 1572 to 1575, he continued his service in Naples, sometimes participating in expeditions. I visited Seville, Corfu, Navarino and so on. In September 1575, Miguel de Cervantes was captured by the Algerian corsairs. The Algerians asked for a large ransom for Cervantes, who had letters of recommendation from the duke for the king with him. Miguel spent 5 years in captivity. Four times he tried to escape, but each time the Algerians caught him and severely punished him.

CONTINUED BELOW

After the long-awaited release from captivity by Christian missionaries, Miguel de Cervantes served in Portugal, Oran and Seville. Then for some time Miguel worked as a purchaser of provisions for the Invincible Armada navy and a collector of arrears. In this field, de Cervantes failed - he naively entrusted a large amount of state money to one banker, and he, without thinking twice, set off on the run with them. Because of this, in 1597, Miguel was imprisoned. It was a difficult time for the writer - yes, then he had already found his calling in literature and worked solely for the sake of buying food for himself. Five years later, Cervantes, accused of monetary abuse, was again taken into custody. Until the early 1600s, very little is known about the life of Miguel de Cervantes. In 1603, Miguel settled in Valladolid and began to engage in private affairs, giving him a small income. True, what kind of these cases were - history is silent.

Literature

Miguel de Cervantes' first novel, Galatea, written in 1585, was not a hit with readers. The same fate befell a number of his dramatic plays. In difficult years (late 1590s - early 1600s), Miguel continues to write, taking creative inspiration from his own life - the life of a wanderer rejected by society. In 1604, the first part of Cervantes's novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha was finally published. The book was liked by the public, not only in Spain, but abroad. Unfortunately, despite the warm reception of the novel, the writer's pocket did not replenish with coins. However, the commercial failure did not prevent Miguel from publishing the second part of the novel, and with it several more works. And although all the works of Miguel de Cervantes are interesting and fascinating, it was the novel "The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" that made the author immortal in world literature.

Personal life

On December 12, 1584, Miguel de Cervantes Saaverda married Catalina Palacios de Salazar, a nineteen-year-old noblewoman from Esquivias. According to the statement of the writer's biographers, there were no children in this marriage. But Miguel had one illegitimate daughter - Isabel de Cervantes.

Death

April 22, 1616 in Madrid, Miguel de Cervantes, creator of the knight Don Quixote and his devoted squire Sancho Panza, died of dropsy. A few days before his death, Miguel took monastic vows.

The burial place of the writer was lost for many years. The remains of de Cervantes were discovered by archaeologists only in the spring of 2015 in a crypt at the monastery de las Trinitarisas. The solemn reburial took place in June of the same year in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Madrid.

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 "Cunning hidalgo Don Quixote La Mancha".

Encyclopedic YouTube

1 / 5

✪ Miguel de Cervantes World

✪ Cervantes Miguel de - 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, the daughter of a nobleman who had lost his fortune. There were seven children in their family, Miguel was the fourth child [ ] . Very little is known about Cervantes' early life. The date of his birth is September 29, 1547 (the day of the Archangel Michael). This date was established approximately on the basis of the records of the church book and the tradition that existed then to give the child a name in honor of the saint, whose feast falls on his birthday. It is authentically 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' father was from the nobility, but in his hometown of Alcala de Henares, the house of his ancestors, which is located in the center of the hooderia, that is, the Jewish quarter. The house of Cervantes is located in the former Jewish part of the city [ ] .

The activity of the writer in Italy

The reasons that motivated Cervantes to leave Castile remain unknown. Whether he was a student, or a fugitive from justice, or a royal arrest warrant for wounding Antonio de Siguru in a duel, is another mystery of his life. In any case, when he left for Italy, he did what other young Spaniards did in one way or another for their careers. Rome revealed its church rituals and grandeur to the young writer. In a city teeming with ancient ruins, Cervantes discovered ancient art, and also concentrated on Renaissance art, architecture and poetry (his knowledge of Italian literature can be traced 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 work, was a kind of 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 livelihood, was forced to steal. Allegedly, it was for stealing that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version does not inspire confidence - if only because the hands of thieves at that time were no longer chopped off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

The Duke de Sesse, presumably in 1575, gave Miguel letters of recommendation (lost by Miguel during his capture) for the king and ministers, as he said in his certificate of July 25, 1578. He also asked the king to provide 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 "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 team were killed, and the rest were taken prisoner and taken to Algeria. :236 Letters of recommendation found in Miguel Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. In Algerian captivity, Cervantes spent 5 years (-), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity, he was often subjected to various torments.

Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition of March 17, 1578, indicated that his son "was captured in a galley" Sun“, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “was wounded by two arquebus shots in the chest, and was injured in his left arm, 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. A 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 " 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 distinction in battle, the captain rewarded him with four ducats on top of his usual pay.

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

In a petition from Miguel's mother dated 1580, it was reported that she asked " give permission for the export of 2,000 ducats in the form of goods from the kingdom Valencia for the ransom of 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 go to America

Miguel de Cervantes. Instructive novels. 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 the vows as a monk. On April 22, 1616, life ended (he died of dropsy), which the carrier himself in his philosophical humor called “long indiscretion” and, leaving which, he “carried away a stone with an inscription on his shoulders, in which the destruction of his hopes was read.” 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 Cervantes' death coincides with the date of the 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 in England - Julian). 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 are two inscriptions in Latin and Spanish: "To Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, king of the Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV".

The world significance of Cervantes rests mainly on his novel Don Quixote, a full, comprehensive expression of his diverse genius. Conceived as a satire on the chivalric novels that flooded all literature at that time, as the author definitively declares in the Prologue, this work little by little, perhaps even regardless of the will of the author, turned into a deep psychological analysis of human nature, two sides of mental activity - noble, but crushed by the reality of idealism and realistic practicality.

Both of these sides found a brilliant manifestation in the immortal types of the hero of the novel and his squire; in their sharp contrast, they - and this is the deep psychological truth - constitute, however, one person; only the fusion of these two essential aspects of the human spirit constitutes a harmonious whole. Don Quixote is ridiculous, his adventures depicted by a brilliant brush - if you do not think about their inner meaning - cause uncontrollable laughter; but it is soon replaced in the thinking and feeling reader by another kind of laughter, "laughter through tears," which is the essential and indispensable condition of every great humorous creation.

In the novel of Cervantes, in the fate of his hero, it was precisely the world irony that affected in a high ethical form. In beatings and all sorts of other insults to which the knight is subjected - despite their somewhat anti-artistic in literary terms - is 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 available 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 has gone forever, and I ask everyone for forgiveness.”

Bibliography

• "Galatea", 1585
• "Destruction of Numancia"
• "Algerian manners"
• "Naval battle" (not preserved)
• "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha", 1605, 1615
• "Instructive Novels", collection, 1613
• "Journey to Parnassus", 1614
• "Eight comedies and eight interludes, new, never presented on the stage", collection, 1615
• "The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismund", 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

• In honor of the heroine of Cervantes' short story "Gypsy Girl", the asteroid (529) Preciosa, discovered in 1904, was named (according to another version, it received the name from the title of the play by Pius Alexander Wolf, written in 1810).
• The asteroids (571) Dulcinea (discovered in 1905) and (3552) Don Quixote (discovered in 1983) are named after the heroine and hero of the novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.
• In 1965, Salvador Dali made a series of "Five Immortal Spaniards" which included Cervantes, El Cid, El Greco, Velázquez and Don Quixote.
• In 1966, a USSR postage stamp dedicated to Cervantes was issued.
• In 1976, a crater named after 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 named "79144 Cervantes".
• The Plaza de España in Madrid is adorned 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 the Friendship Park.
• Argentine is named after Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (Spanish: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra). Born presumably September 29, 1547 in Alcala de Henares - died 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 had lost his fortune. There were seven children in their family, Miguel became the fourth child. Very little is known about Cervantes' early life. The date of his birth is September 29, 1547 (the day of the Archangel Michael). This date was established approximately on the basis of the records of the church book and the tradition that existed then to give the child a name in honor of the saint, whose feast falls on his birthday. It is authentically 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.

The reasons that prompted Cervantes to leave Castile remain unknown. Whether he was a student, or a fugitive from justice, or a royal arrest warrant for wounding Antonio de Sigur in a duel, is another mystery of his life. In any case, when he left for Italy, he did what other young Spaniards did for their careers in one way or another.

Rome revealed its church rituals and grandeur to the young writer. In a city teeming 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 traced 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 work, was a kind of desire to return to the early period of the Renaissance.

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

Despite the fact that Cervantes had a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to fight. According to eyewitnesses, he said: "I prefer, even when sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier ... and not 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 capacity of his left hand for the glory of his right" (he thought about the success of the first part of Don Quixote). Cervantes always recalled with pride his participation in this battle: he believed that he had taken part in an event that would determine the course of European history.

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 livelihood, was forced to steal. Allegedly, it was for stealing that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version does not inspire confidence - if only because the hands of thieves at that time were no longer chopped off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

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

The Duke de Sesse, 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 of July 25, 1578. He also asked the king to provide 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 "Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the way 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 team were killed, and the rest were taken prisoner and taken to Algeria. Letters of recommendation found in Cervantes' possession led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. In Algerian captivity, Cervantes spent 5 years (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity, he was often subjected to various torments.

Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition of March 17, 1578, indicated that his son "was captured in the galley Sun, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada", and that he "was wounded by two shots from an arquebus 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. A 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 "was ill on the day of the battle and had a fever" and was advised to stay in bed, but he decided to take part in the battle. For distinction in battle, the captain rewarded him with four ducats on top of his usual pay.

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

In a petition from Miguel's mother dated 1580, it was reported that she asked "to give permission for the export of 2000 ducats in the form of goods from the kingdom of Valencia" for the ransom of her son.

On October 10, 1580, a notarial deed was drawn up in Algiers in the presence of Miguel Cervantes and 11 witnesses in order to redeem him from captivity. On October 22, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarian) Juan Gil "The Liberator of Captives" compiled a report based on this notarial act confirming Cervantes' merits to the king.

After being released 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 handled 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 for a vacant seat in the American colonies, in particular in the "Auditing Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Soconusco in Guatemala, or the Accountant on the Galleys of Cartagena, or the Corregidor of the City of La Paz" , and all because he still has not received favors for his long (22 years) service to the Crown. The Chairman of the Council of the Indies, on June 6, 1590, left a note on the petition that the bearer "deserved to be given any service and could 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, Schall, characterized him thus: “The poet, windy and dreamy, lacked worldly skill, and he did not benefit either from his military campaigns or from his works. It was an unselfish soul, incapable of gaining fame or counting on success, alternately enchanted or indignant, irresistibly surrendering to all its 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 reflection, then carefree cheerful ... From the analysis of his life, he comes out with honor, full of generous and noble activity, an amazing and naive prophet, heroic in his disasters 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 poor success.

In order to earn his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the commissary service; he is assigned to buy provisions for the Invincible Armada. In the performance of these duties, he suffers great setbacks, even gets 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 until he prints anything. The wanderings prepare the 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 of the life of Cervantes. In 1603, he appeared in Valladolid, where he was engaged in small private affairs that gave him a meager income, and in 1604 the first part of the novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha was published, which was a huge success in Spain (the first part sold out in a few weeks). edition and 4 others in the same year) and abroad (translations into many languages). However, it did not improve the author's financial situation in the least, but only increased the hostile attitude towards him, expressed in ridicule, slander, and persecution.

From that time until his death, the literary activity of Cervantes did not stop: between 1604 and 1616, the second part of Don Quixote appeared, all the short stories, many dramatic works, the poem Journey to Parnassus, and the novel printed after the death of the author was written. Persiles and Sikhismund.

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

Cervantes died in Madrid, where he had moved from Valladolid shortly before his death. The irony of fate pursued the great humorist behind the coffin: 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 are two inscriptions in Latin and Spanish: "To Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, king of the Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV."

The world significance of Cervantes rests mainly on his novel Don Quixote, a full, comprehensive expression of his diverse genius. Conceived as a satire on the chivalric novels that flooded all literature at that time, as the author definitively declares in the Prologue, this work little by little, perhaps even regardless of the will of the author, turned into a deep psychological analysis of human nature, two sides of mental activity - noble, but crushed by the reality of idealism and realistic practicality.

Both of these sides found a brilliant manifestation in the immortal types of the hero of the novel and his squire; in their sharp contrast, they - and this is the deep psychological truth - constitute, however, one person; only the fusion of these two essential aspects of the human spirit constitutes a harmonious whole. Don Quixote is ridiculous, his adventures depicted by a brilliant brush - if you do not think about their inner meaning - cause uncontrollable laughter; but it is soon replaced in the thinking and feeling reader by another kind of laughter, "laughter through tears," which is the essential and indispensable condition of every great humorous creation.

In the novel of Cervantes, in the fate of his hero, it was precisely the world irony that affected in a high ethical form. In beatings and all sorts of other insults to which the knight is subjected - despite their somewhat anti-artistic in literary terms - is 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 available 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 has gone forever, and I ask everyone for forgiveness.”

Spanish Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

world famous spanish writer

Miguel de Cervantes

short biography

The famous Spanish writer, author of Don Quixote, was born in 1547. It is known that he was baptized on October 9; perhaps the date of birth was September 29, St. Miguel. His family, noble but poor, lived in the town of Alcala de Henares. When Miguel grew up, his parents were close to ruin, so he entered the service of Giulio Acquaviva y Aragon, the ambassador of the Pope, worked for him as a housekeeper. Together they left Madrid for Rome in 1569.

Under Acquaviva, Cervantes stayed for about a year, and in the second half of 1570 he became a member of the Spanish army, a regiment stationed in Italy. This period of his biography took him 5 years and had a significant impact on his later life, since Cervantes had the opportunity to get to know Italy, its richest culture, social order. The famous naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 was also significant for Cervantes, because. he was wounded, as a result of which only his right arm remained active. He left the hospital in Messina only in the spring of 1572, but continued his military service.

In 1575, Miguel and his brother Rodrigo, also a soldier, were captured by pirates on a ship bound for Spain from Naples. They were sold into slavery and ended up in Algiers. To avoid heavy punishments and death, Cervantes was helped by the presence of letters of recommendation to the king. Four attempts to escape ended in failure, and only 5 years later, in 1580, Christian missionaries helped him gain freedom.

A life full of misadventures was replaced by the monotony of the civil service, the constant search for a livelihood. The beginning of literary activity also belongs to this period. Almost 40-year-old Cervantes wrote in 1585 the pastoral novel "Galatea" and about 30 plays, which did not make much impression on the public. The income from writing was too small, and the writer moved from Madrid to Seville, where he was hired to serve as a commissioner for food procurement. During the 6-year period of service, he had to be arrested three times: the negligence of documentation had such consequences.

In 1603, Cervantes retired, the next year he moved from Seville to Valladolid, which was the temporary capital of Spain. In 1606, Madrid was proclaimed the main city of the kingdom - Cervantes moved there, and the most successful period in terms of creativity is associated with this city in his biography. In 1605, the first part of Cervantes' greatest novel, The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, was published, which, being a parody of chivalric romances, became a real encyclopedia of the life of Spain in the 17th century, a literary work filled with the deepest philosophical and social content. The name of its protagonist has long become a household name. World fame came to Cervantes far from immediately; the author of Don Quixote was known more as a person with rich life experience who survived the Algerian captivity.

The second part of the novel was written only 10 years later, and in this interval a number of works are published that strengthen his literary fame: the second most important work is Edifying Novels (1613), a collection of 8 comedies and 8 interludes. At the end of the creative path, a love-adventure novel appeared under the name "The Wanderings of Persilius and Sikhismund". Despite his fame, Cervantes remained a poor man, he lived in the Madrid area for the low-income.

In 1609 he became a member of the Brotherhood of Servants of Holy Communion; his two sisters and wife took monastic vows. He did the same - became a monk - and Cervantes himself literally on the eve of death. April 23, 1616, while in Madrid, the author of the "knight of the sad image" died of dropsy. An interesting detail: on the same day, the life of another famous writer, W. Shakespeare, ended. Bad luck haunted Cervantes even after his death: the absence of an inscription on his grave led to the fact that for a very long time the burial place remained unknown.

Biography from Wikipedia

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, the daughter of a nobleman who had lost his fortune. There were seven children in their family, Miguel was the fourth child. Very little is known about Cervantes' early life. The date of his birth is September 29, 1547 (the day of the Archangel Michael). This date was established approximately on the basis of the records of the church book and the tradition that existed then to give the child a name in honor of the saint, whose feast falls on his birthday. It is authentically 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' father was from the nobility, but in his hometown of Alcala de Henares, the house of his ancestors, which is located in the center of the hooderia, that is, the Jewish quarter. The Cervantes House is located in the former Jewish part of the city.

The activity 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 a royal arrest warrant for wounding Antonio de Siguru in a duel, is another mystery of his life. In any case, when he left for Italy, he did what other young Spaniards did for their careers in one way or another. Rome revealed its church rituals and grandeur to the young writer. In a city teeming 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 traced 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 work, was a kind of desire to return to the early period of the Renaissance.

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

By 1570, Cervantes was enrolled as a soldier in the Spanish Marine Regiment stationed in Naples. He stayed there for about a year before entering active service. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed aboard the Marquis, part of the galley fleet of the Holy League, which on October 7 defeated the Ottoman flotilla at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras. Despite the fact that Cervantes had a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to fight. According to eyewitnesses, he said: I prefer, even when sick and in the heat, to fight like a good soldier ... and not 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 capacity of the left hand for the glory of the right(he was thinking about the success of the first part of Don Quixote). Cervantes always recalled with pride his participation in this battle: he believed that he had taken part in an event that would determine the course of European history.

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 livelihood, was forced to steal. Allegedly, it was for stealing that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version does not inspire confidence - if only because the hands of thieves at that time were no longer chopped off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

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

The Duke de Sesse, 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 of July 25, 1578. He also asked the king to provide 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 "Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the way 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 team were killed, and the rest were taken prisoner and taken to Algeria. Letters of recommendation found in Miguel Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. In Algerian captivity, Cervantes spent 5 years (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity, he was often subjected to various torments.

Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition of March 17, 1578, indicated that his son "was captured in a galley" Sun“, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “was wounded by two arquebus shots in the chest, and was injured in his left arm, 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. A 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 " 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 distinction in battle, the captain rewarded him with four ducats on top of his usual pay.

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

Miguel's mother's petition of 1580 reported that she requested " to authorize the export of 2,000 ducats in the form of goods from the Kingdom of Valencia for the ransom of her son.

On October 10, 1580, a notarial deed was drawn up in Algiers in the presence of Miguel Cervantes and 11 witnesses in order to redeem him from captivity. On October 22, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarian) Juan Gil "The Liberator of Captives" compiled a report based on this notarial act confirming Cervantes' merits to the king.

Service in Portugal

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

Trip to Yerevan

By order of the king, Miguel made a trip to Yerevan in the 1590s.

Service in Seville

In Seville, Cervantes was for some time an agent for Antonio Guevara, the royal commissioner for the American Navy. This new life was a hard test for him; he had to leave his favorite literary pursuits and reading, which served him as a rest from work; I could only occasionally see my family. His time was spent traveling around the villages and villages of Andalusia and Grenada, where he bought butter, grain bread and other products to supply the fleet. These activities did not suit his inclinations at all, and he suffered, feeling out of place.

Nevertheless, Cervantes fell in love with Seville. He liked the fact that no one here knew him, that he could at will get involved in the crowd, which his experienced eye observed with curiosity. During the ten years that Cervantes spent in Seville, this city became his second home. He studied in detail every corner of Seville, the customs and composition of its population.

Intention to go to America

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

Cervantes about himself

In the prologue of the Instructive Novels in 1613, Miguel de Cervantes wrote:

Under the portrait, my friend could write: “The man you see here, with an oval face, brown hair, an open and large forehead, a cheerful look and a humpbacked, although correct nose; with a silver beard, which twenty years ago was still golden; long mustache, small mouth; with teeth that are not very rare, but not dense either, because he has only six of them, and, moreover, very unsightly and poorly spaced, because there is no correspondence between them; ordinary growth - neither big nor small; with a good complexion, rather fair than swarthy; slightly stooped and heavy on his feet, he is the author of Galatea and Don Quixote of La Mancha, who, in imitation of Cesare Caporali of Perugia, wrote Journey to Parnassus and other works that go around distorted, and sometimes without the name of the composer. His colloquial name is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He served as a soldier for many years and spent five and a half years in captivity, where he managed to learn to endure misfortunes patiently. In the naval battle of Lepanto, his arm was mutilated by a shot from an arquebus, and although this mutilation seems otherwise ugly, in his eyes it is beautiful, for he received it in one of the most famous battles that were known in past centuries and that can happen in future, fighting under the victorious banners of the son of the "Thunderstorm of Wars" - the blessed memory of Charles the Fifth.

Miguel de Cervantes. Instructive novels. Translation from Spanish by B. Krzhevsky. Moscow. Publishing house "Fiction". 1983

Personal life

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

Character

The best of Cervantes' biographers, Schall, described him as follows: “The poet, windy and dreamy, lacked worldly skill, and he did not benefit either from his military campaigns or from his works. It was a disinterested soul, incapable of gaining glory or counting on success, alternately enchanted or indignant, irresistibly surrendering to all its 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 reflection, then carefree cheerful ... From the analysis of his life, he comes out with honor, full of generous and noble activity, an amazing and naive prophet, heroic in his disasters and kind in his genius.

Literary activity

Title="(!LANG: Miguel de Cervantes(Retratos de Españoles Ilustres, 1791).">!} Miguel de Cervantes (Retratos de Españoles Ilustres, 1791).

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

In order to earn his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the commissary service; he is assigned to buy provisions for the "Invincible Armada", then he is appointed as a collector of arrears. In the performance of these duties, he suffers great setbacks. Having entrusted public money to one banker who fled with them, Cervantes was imprisoned in 1597 on charges of embezzlement. Five years later, he was destined to be imprisoned again on charges of money abuse. 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 until he prints anything. The wanderings prepare the 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 of the life of Cervantes. In 1603, he appeared in Valladolid, where he was engaged in small private affairs that gave him a meager income, and in 1604 the first part of the novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha was published, which was a huge success in Spain (the 1st part sold out in a few weeks). edition and 4 others in the same year) and abroad (translations into many languages). However, it did not improve the author's financial situation in the least, but only increased the hostile attitude towards him, expressed in ridicule, slander, and persecution.

From that time until his death, the literary activity of Cervantes did not stop: between 1604 and 1616, the second part of Don Quixote appeared, all the short stories, many dramatic works (The Jealous Old Man, Theater of Miracles, Labyrinth of Love, etc. .), the poem "Journey to Parnassus" and the novel "Persiles and Sichismund" published after the death of the author was written.

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

Heritage

Cervantes died in Madrid, where he had moved from Valladolid shortly before his death. The irony of fate pursued the great humorist behind the coffin: 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. In June of the same year they were reburied.

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

The world significance of Cervantes rests mainly on his novel Don Quixote, a full, comprehensive expression of his diverse genius. Conceived as a satire on the chivalric novels that flooded all literature at that time, as the author definitively declares in the Prologue, this work little by little, perhaps even regardless of the will of the author, turned into a deep psychological analysis of human nature, two sides of mental activity - noble, but crushed by the reality of idealism and realistic practicality.