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 town of Alcala de Henares. His father, Hidalgo Rodrigo de Cervantes, was a modest physician, his mother, Doña Leonor de Cortina, was the daughter of a nobleman who had lost his fortune. Their family had seven children, 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 is estimated based on records church book and the then tradition of giving a child a name in honor of a saint whose holiday falls on his birthday. It is known for certain that Cervantes was baptized on October 9, 1547 in the church of Santa Maria la Mayor in 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 fled from justice, or escaped a royal arrest warrant for wounded Antonio de Sigura in a duel, this is another mystery of 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 opened its church rituals and grandeur to the young writer. In a city teeming with ancient ruins, Cervantes discovered ancient art, and also focused on Renaissance art, architecture and poetry (knowledge of Italian literature can be traced in his works). He was able to find in achievements the ancient world a powerful impetus for the revival of art. Thus, the enduring love for Italy that is visible in his later works was in a way a desire to return to the early Renaissance period.
By 1570, Cervantes was enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish Marine Regiment located in Naples. He stayed there for about a year before starting active service. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed aboard the Marquesa, which was part of the Holy League galley fleet, which defeated the Ottoman flotilla on October 7 at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras.
Despite the fact that Cervantes was sick with a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to fight. According to eyewitnesses, he said: "I prefer, even being sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier ... and not hide under the protection of the deck." He fought bravely aboard the ship and received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the forearm. The last wound robbed him of left hand 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 thought about the success of the first part of Don Quixote). Cervantes always remembered 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 theft 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 thieves at that time were no longer chopped off their hands, 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 healed enough for him to continue serving. 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 Tunis and La Guletta by the Turks in 1574. In addition, Cervantes was in Portugal and also made service trips to Oran (1580s); served in Seville.
The Duke de Sesse, presumably in 1575, gave Miguel letters of recommendation (lost by Miguel during his captivity) for the king and ministers, as he reported in his testimony of July 25, 1578. He also asked the king for mercy and assistance to the brave soldier.
In September 1575, Miguel Cervantes with his brother Rodrigo was 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 captured and taken to Algeria. The letters of recommendation found at Cervantes' entailed an increase in the amount of the required ransom. In Algerian captivity, Cervantes spent 5 years (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and only miraculously was not executed. In captivity, he was often subjected to various tortures.
Father Rodrigo de Cervantes, according to his petition of March 17, 1578, indicated that his son “was captured at the Sun gallery, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “received two wounds from the arquebus in the chest, and was injured in his left hand, which he cannot use. " The father did not have the means to ransom Miguel due to the fact that he had previously ransomed his other son, Rodrigo, who was also on that ship, from captivity. Mateo de Santisteban, a witness to this petition, 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 and had a fever on the day of the battle," 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 over and above his usual pay.
The news (in the form of letters) about Miguel's stay in Algerian captivity was delivered 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 in 1580, it was reported that she asked for "permission to export 2,000 ducats in the form of goods from the Kingdom of Valencia" in order 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 with the aim of ransoming him from captivity. On October 22nd, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarian) Juan Gil "Liberator of Captives" compiled a report on the basis of this notarial deed confirming Cervantes' merits before 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 was engaged in the affairs of the Spanish fleet on the orders of Antonio de Guevara.
On May 21, 1590, in Madrid, Miguel submits a petition to the Council of India for a vacancy in the American colonies, in particular in the "Audit Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Sokonusco in Guatemala, or the Bookkeeper in the Galleys of Cartagena, or the 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. On June 6, 1590, the President of the Council of the Indies left a note on the petition that the applicant "deserves to be given some kind of service, and he can be trusted."
On December 12, 1584, Miguel Cervantes married a nineteen-year-old native of the city of Esquias, Catalina Palacios de Salazar, from whom he inherited a small dowry. He had one illegitimate daughter, Isabel de Cervantes.
The best biographer of Cervantes, Chal, characterized him as follows: “The poet, windy and dreamy, lacked worldly skill, and he did not benefit from either his military campaigns or from his works. It was a disinterested soul, incapable of gaining glory for itself or counting on success, alternately enchanted or indignant, irresistibly surrendering to all its impulses ... immersed in deep thought, then carefreely cheerful ... He emerges from the analysis of his life with honor, full of magnanimous and noble activity, an amazing and naive prophet, heroic in his misfortunes and kind in his genius. "
Miguel's literary career began quite late, when he was 38 years old. The first work, Galatea (1585), was followed by a large number of dramatic plays with little success.
To get his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the quartermaster service; he is tasked with purchasing provisions for the Invincible Armada. In the performance of these duties, he suffers great failures, even goes to trial and sits in prison for some time. His life in those years was a whole chain of severe hardships, hardships and calamities.
In the midst of all this, he does not stop his writing as long as he does not publish anything. The wanderings prepare the material for his future work, serving as a vehicle for the study of Spanish life in its various manifestations.
From 1598 to 1603 there is almost no news of Cervantes' life. In 1603, he appears in Valladolid, where he is engaged in small private affairs, giving him meager earnings, and in 1604 the first part of the novel "The Dodgy Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was published, which had tremendous success in Spain (the 1st publication and 4 others in the same year) and abroad (translations into many languages). However, she did not improve the material position of the author, but only intensified the hostile attitude towards him, expressed in ridicule, slander, and persecution.
From that time until his death, Cervantes's literary activity did not stop: in the interval between 1604 and 1616, the second part of Don Quixote appeared, all the novellas, many dramatic works, the poem "Journey to Parnassus" and the novel "Persiles and Sikhismunda", published after the author's death, was written.
Almost on his deathbed, Cervantes did not stop working; a few days before his death, he was tonsured a monk. On April 23, 1616, life ended (he died of dropsy), which the bearer himself in his philosophical humor called "long imprudence" and, leaving which, he "carried a stone on his shoulders with an inscription that read the destruction of his hopes."
Cervantes died in Madrid, where he moved from Valladolid shortly before his death. The irony of fate pursued the great humorist behind 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: “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedre, king of Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV”.
Cervantes' world significance rests mainly on his novel Don Quixote, a complete, comprehensive expression of his diverse genius. Conceived as a satire on the knightly novels that flooded all literature at that time, which the author definitely states in the Prologue, this work gradually, 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 the reality of idealism and realistic practicality.
Both of these sides found themselves brilliantly manifested 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 - 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 with a brilliant brush - if you do not ponder their inner meaning - cause irrepressible laughter; but in the thinking and feeling reader, it is soon replaced by another laugh, "laughter through tears," which is an essential and inalienable condition for every great humorous creation.
In Cervantes' novel, in the destinies of his hero, it was world irony that was reflected in a high ethical form. One of the best expressions of this irony is the beatings and all kinds of other insults to which the knight is subjected - with a certain anti-artistic character of them in a literary sense. Turgenev noted another very important point in the novel - the death of his hero: at that moment all the great meaning of this person becomes available to everyone. When his former squire, wishing 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."
Born in 1547 in the provincial town of Alcalá de Henares, thirty kilometers from Madrid, in the family of a surgeon.
The large family of the future writer lived in poverty, but was famous for the title of hidalgo. In the Cervantes family, Miguel was the fourth among seven children.
Even with such a title, the Cervantes family, headed by Father Rodrigo, had to move from place to place in search of earnings.
There is unverified evidence that he studied at the University of Salamanca. Cervantes left his native land and, having arrived in Italy, got acquainted with the art of ancient times, the Renaissance.
In Rome, he drew inspiration, studied the works of Italian writers, which left its mark on the later works of the author.
In 1570 he joined the Marines of Naples. It is also known that he took part in the Battle of Lepanto, where he lost his left arm. During this battle, the writer showed heroism and courage, which he was rightfully proud of.
In addition, during the service, the writer took part in campaigns to Corfu and Navarino. Was present at the surrender of Tunisia and La Gleta to the Ottoman Empire. Returning home from service, Cervantes is captured by the Algerian pirates, who sold him into slavery. The future writer made several unsuccessful attempts to escape and miraculously escaped execution. After spending five years in captivity, he was ransomed by missionaries.
Miguel de Cervantes started quite late. Upon returning home, he wrote his first work, Galatea, followed by many other dramatic plays. Unfortunately, his works were not in great demand, which forced him to look for other sources of income: he either took up the purchase of provisions for ships, then he worked as a collector of arrears.
The life of the future author was difficult, full of hardships and hardships. He had to go through a lot, nevertheless, Miguel constantly worked on the work of his whole life and in 1604 the first part of the immortal novel "The Dodgy Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was published for the first time. The work immediately made a splash, the book literally flew off the shelves, translations were made into many languages. However, the financial situation of the author did not improve from this.
Cervantes continued to write actively for 12 years, from 1604 to 1616. numerous short stories, dramatic works, the continuation of the bestseller Don Quixote, as well as a novel published only after the death of the author "Persiles and Sikhismund" were born.
Miguel took monastic vows presumably in 1616, in the same year the world famous writer, who lived a difficult life, died. For a long time, the grave of the writer remained lost, due to the lack of an inscription on his tomb. Cervantes' contribution to world literature, he became the founder of the personal epic.
Cervantes' significance is based mainly on the novel Don Quixote. This work, known all over the world today, fully reveals his versatile genius. Here there is a deep analysis of the nature of people, from two angles: idealism and realism. The destinies of his heroes, who complement each other as best as possible, reflect all the salt of world irony. Having led his knight through real life, the author reveals a diverse panorama of Spanish society.
The very next year, he retrained as a sailor, began to participate in expeditions organized by the King of Spain, together with the Seigneur of Venice and the Pope. The campaign against the Turks ended sadly for Cervantes. On October 7, 1571, the Battle of Lepanto took place, where a young sailor was seriously wounded in his hand.In 1575, Cervantes remained for treatment in Sicily. After recovering, it was decided to return to Spain, where it was possible to receive the rank of captain in the army. But on September 26, 1575, the future writer was captured by the Turkish pirates, who transported him to Algeria. The captivity lasted until September 19, 1580, when the family raised the amount necessary for the ransom. Hopes for a reward in Spain did not materialize.
Life after the army
 |
In 1585, a former soldier was promoted to procurement commissioner olive oil and grain for the Invincible Armada in Andalusia. The work was hard and thankless. When Cervantes commanded the king to requisition wheat from the clergy, he was excommunicated. For errors in reporting, the would-be commissioner was put on trial and sent to prison.
Attempts to find happiness in Spain were unsuccessful, and the writer applied for a position in America. But in 1590 he was refused. Subsequently, Cervantes survived three more imprisonments, in 1592, 1597, 1602. It was then that the immortal work known to everyone began to crystallize.
In 1602, the court dropped all charges of alleged debts against the writer. In 1604, Cervantes moved to Valladolid, then the residence of the king. Only in 1608 did he settle permanently in Madrid, where he seriously took up writing and publishing books. Last years the author lived on a pension appointed by the Archbishop of Toledo and Count of Lemos. The famous Spaniard died of dropsy on April 23, 1616, having tonsured a monk a few days before.
 |
The first school poems were published in 1569. Only 16 years later, in 1585, the first part of the pastoral novel "Galatea" was published. Creation tells the story of the vicissitudes of the relationship of idealized characters, shepherdesses and shepherds. Some are in prose, some in verse. There is no single storyline and main characters here. The action is very simple, the shepherds just tell each other about their troubles and joys. The writer was going to write a sequel all his life, but he never did it.
In 1605, a novel about "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was published. The second part was published in 1615. In 1613, the "Instructive Novels" were published. In 1614, The Journey to Parnassus was born, and in 1615, Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes were written. In 1617, The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda were published posthumously. Not all works have come down to us, but Cervantes mentioned them: "Weeks in the Garden", the second volume of "Galatea", "Deception of the Eye".
The famous "Edifying Novels" are 12 stories in which the edifying part is indicated in the title and is connected with the morality that is written at the end. Some of them are united common topic... So, in "The magnanimous admirer", "Senora Cornelia", "Two girls" and "English Spanish woman" it comes of lovers separated by the vicissitudes of fate. But by the end of the story, the main characters are reunited and find their long-awaited happiness.
Another group of short stories is devoted to the life of the central character, more attention is paid to characters, rather than unfolding actions. This can be seen in "Rinconeta and Cortadillo", "Deceitful marriage", "Licentiate Vidriera", "Conversation of two dogs". It is generally accepted that "Rinconeta and Cortadillo" is the author's most charming work, telling in a comic form about the life of two vagabonds who have connected with a brotherhood of thieves. In the novel, one can sense the humor of Cervantes, describing the ceremonial adopted in the gang with solemn comic.
 |
The book of a lifetime is the one and only Don Quixote. It is believed that Cervantes wrote off the rustic hidalgo Alonso Quihan from himself. The hero was imbued with the idea of chivalry from books and believed that he himself was an itinerant knight. The search for the adventures of Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful companion, the peasant Sancho Panso, was a huge success then, and still is now, four centuries later.
In Spain, 1605 was an exceptionally good year for culture. As for politics and economics, he did not promise anything new to the Spanish people. The empire of Charles V, where "the sun never set," continued to dominate the world stage. However, the foundation for the economic crisis has already begun to be created. But it was still very far from its peak.
The Spanish kingdom waged endless wars on land and at sea. They had one goal - to preserve and further expand their immense possessions in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. Those increased significantly after 1581, when Portugal annexed Spain and transferred all its colonies to it.
During this period of time, victories were won over the insurgent inhabitants of Flanders and the German troops. There was a successful struggle for power in the colonies with England, Holland and France. But all these high-profile events could not be compared in their importance with an event, at first glance, modest and insignificant.
In January 1605, a novel appeared in the bookstores of Madrid by a little-known elderly writer, and besides, a disabled one. This work was called "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha". More than 400 years have passed since the publication of this book. Who now remembers Charles V, Philip II, Philip III, other kings and generals? These people got lost in the course of centuries, and the immortal work continues to live a full-blooded life and finds more and more fans.
Who was the author of the great creation? His name was Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra(1547-1616). This man is notable for the fact that need pursued him from birth to the very grave. The writer himself in his poem "Journey to Parnassus" speaks of himself as a man tormented by cursed poverty. Even when he was already at the zenith of fame, they said about him that he was an old man, a soldier, a hidalgo and a poor man.
Upon learning of this, the French exclaimed in bewilderment: "And Spain did not enrich such a great writer and does not support it at the public expense?" To which the Spaniards replied: "The need makes him write great creations. Therefore, praise God that he never lived in wealth, for with his masterpieces, being a beggar, he enriches the whole world."
Biography of Cervantes
Childhood
According to the baptismal record in one of the churches of the city of Alcala de Henares, on September 29, 1547, a boy, the future creator of Don Quixote, was born to the freelance physician Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife Leonora de Cortinas. In the family, he was the 4th child. In total, there were six children. Three girls and three boys.
On his father's side, the future great writer had a noble origin. But in the 16th century, the clan became impoverished and fell into decay. Rodrigo was deaf and never held any judicial or administrative positions. He became just a doctor, which from the point of view of hidalgia meant practically nothing. The writer's mother also belonged to a poor noble family.
In material terms, the family lived very poorly. Rodrigo, in search of work, constantly moved from city to city, and his wife and children followed him. But eternal need did not bring strife and scandals into family life. Rodrigo and Leonora loved each other, and their children lived as a close-knit team.
Constant relocation had a positive rather than a negative side for little Miguel. Thanks to them, from an early age he got acquainted with the real, and not the ostentatious life of ordinary people.
In 1551, the doctor and his family settled in Valladolid. At that time, this city was considered the capital of the kingdom. But a year passed, and Rodrigo was arrested for non-payment of debts to a local moneylender. The meager property of the family went under the hammer, and a vagrant life began again. The family left for Cordoba, then returned to Valladolid, and then moved to Madrid and finally settled in Seville.
At the age of 10, Miguel entered the Jesuit college. In it, he remained for 4 years from 1557 to 1561 and received his secondary education. Further studies took place in Madrid with the famous Spanish teacher and humanist Juan Lopez de Hoyos. In the meantime, the young man's family was completely ruined. In this regard, Miguel had to think about how to earn his own bread and help an impoverished family.
Youth
Poor nobles at that time had 3 ways: to go to church, to serve at the court or in the army. The future great writer chose the 2nd path. Juan López de Hoyos gave his student a letter of recommendation, and he got a job at the service of the extraordinary ambassador of Pope Pius V, Monsignor Giulio Aquaviv y Aragon. In 1569, together with the ambassador, Cervantes left Madrid for Rome as a camerlegno (key keeper).
The future writer spent a year in the service of Aquaviva, and in 1570 he entered the service of a Spanish regiment stationed in Italy. This gave him the opportunity to visit Milan, Venice, Bologna, Palermo and thoroughly get acquainted with the Italian way of life, as well as the richest culture of this country.
On October 7, 1571, the naval battle of Lepanto took place. In it, the fleet of the Holy League (Spain, the Vatican and Venice) utterly defeated the Turkish squadron, which put an end to the Turkish expansion in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, for Miguel, this battle ended sadly. He received 3 gunshot wounds: two in the chest and one in the left forearm.
The last wound was fatal. The young man practically ceased to wield his left hand "to the greater glory of the right" - as he himself later said. After that, the future great writer ended up in a hospital, where he stayed until early May 1572. But, after being discharged from the hospital, he did not leave military service. He expressed a desire to continue serving, and was enlisted in the regiment stationed on the island of Corfu. On October 2, 1572, he already participated in the Battle of Navarino, and a year later he was sent to North Africa, from where he returned to Italy and continued his military service in Sardinia, and then in Naples.
On September 20, 1575, Miguel, together with his younger brother Rodrigo, who also served in the army, boarded the "Sun" galley and departed for Spain. But this trip ended tragically. The ship was boarded by pirates and brought the captured brothers to Algeria. Miguel had letters of recommendation with him, and the pirates considered him important and wealthy. They demanded a huge ransom for him in the amount of 500 gold escudos.
To make the prisoner pliable, they kept him in chains and with an iron ring around his neck. He wrote letters to his homeland, and the greedy Algerians were waiting for the ransom. So it took 5 long years. During this time, the young man showed himself to be a noble, honest and staunch person. With his courageous behavior, he even earned the respect of such a thug as Hassan Pasha.
In 1577, the family saved up money and bought Rodrigo. Miguel had to wait another long 3 years. The king refused to ransom his loyal soldier, and the family, at the cost of incredible efforts, collected the sum of 3,300 reais. This money was transferred to Gassan Pasha, and he was apparently glad to get rid of dangerous person... On September 19, 1580, Cervantes was freed from Algerian captivity, and on October 24 he left Algeria to set foot on his native Spanish land a few days later.
Life after captivity
Spain greeted her compatriot unkindly. At home, no one needed him, and the family was in a terrible state. The father became completely deaf and gave up medical practice. He died in 1585. But even before his death, Miguel became the head of the family. To feed himself and his loved ones, he again returned to military service. In 1581 he traveled to North Africa as a military courier and at one time was at the headquarters of the Duke of Alba in Tomar.
At this time, Miguel had an illegitimate daughter, Isavel de Saavedra. In 1584, the future writer married 19-year-old Catalina de Salazar y Palacios. The girl had a small dowry, and the family's financial situation did not improve.
In 1587, Miguel traveled south of the country to Andalusia. It was the center of trade with the American colonies. He opened up great opportunities for commercial initiatives. The writer settled in Seville and got a job as procurement commissioner for the Invincible Armada. It was a Klondike for bribe-takers and unscrupulous individuals. Other food commissioners made a fortune in a year, and Miguel lived on a modest salary and tried to conduct everything honestly.
As a result, he made a lot of enemies, and he was accused of hiding money. It all ended with a 3-month imprisonment in 1592. In 1594 he was sent as a tax collector to the kingdom of Granada. Miguel zealously took up a new business. He collected R $ 7,400 and transferred the money to a Seville bank. But he declared himself bankrupt, and the tax collector was sued. Cervantes failed to prove that he gave all the collected money to the state. In 1597 he was again imprisoned for 3 months. In 1604, the writer parted with Seville and moved to Valladolid. His family soon joined him.
Don Quixote and his loyal squire Sancho Panza
Creation
The first large and unfinished novel in prose and verse "Galatea" was begun in 1582 and saw the light of day in 1585. In the 18th century, this work enjoyed the same success as Don Quixote. In our time, the novel is somehow unjustly forgotten. This is a story about the love of 2 shepherds, Elio and Erastro, for the beautiful Galatea. The first part of the novel, which was published, consists of 6 chapters. Each chapter describes 1 day of rivalry between 2 young men in love. But the author wanted to give the marriage of Galatea with one of the shepherds in the second part, which he never wrote.
The novel is of interest not for its sharp storyline, but for inserted episodes. The best of these is the tale of the adventures of Nishida, Timbrio, Blanca and Silerio. This is one of the central places of the work.
As for the drama, Miguel de Cervantes wrote about 30 plays. Among them are "Algerian customs", "Destruction of Numancia" and "Sea battle". Numancia is considered the pinnacle of Spanish theater during the Golden Age. Two stories were also written: "Rinconeta and Cortadillo" and "The Jealous Extremaduran". They were published in 1613 in a collection of "Instructive Novels".
At the beginning of the 17th century, the writer created the poem "Journey to Parnassus", as well as "The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda" and the collection "Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes". In 1602, work began on the immortal creation "Don Quixote".
The novel about the noble knight Don Quixote and his loyal squire Sancho Panza consists of 2 parts. The second part was written 10 years later than the first and was completed in 1613. It went on sale in November 1615, and the first part, as already mentioned, in January 1605.
But the second volume was preceded by a forged volume, written by a certain Alonso Fernandez Avellaneda. He saw the light of day in the summer of 1614. The real name of the author of the fake is unknown to this day. Miguel himself learned about the forged "Don Quixote" when he was writing Chapter 59. This news plunged him into irritation and, most likely, hastened his death. However, it should be noted that the forged second part, although it was written in a literary lively language, did not have any success with the readers and passed, in general, unnoticed.
Between the first and second parts of the great novel, the second most literary work was created - "Instructive Novels". They were so brilliant that even Cervantes's literary enemies praised them. The collection includes 12 stories with various plots. Here you can name love stories: "The Power of Blood", "Two Maidens", "Senora Cornelia". Sharply satirical: "About the conversation of dogs", "Deceitful marriage". Psychological: "Jealous Extremadurets".
Monument to Cervantes
End of life
The last years of his life, the great writer lived in Madrid. He moved to this city in 1608. He lived with his family in a poor neighborhood. Don Quixote did not improve his financial situation. In 1609 and 1611, Miguel's sisters died. The wife took monastic vows. The daughter divorced her first husband and entered into a second marriage.
The last was the already mentioned novel "The Wandering of Persiles and Sikhismunda". It was completed on April 16, 1616. It appeared in bookstores in April 1617, and the writer died on April 23, 1616... They buried Cervantes at the expense of the Brotherhood of Slaves of the Holy Communion, of which he had been a member since 1609.
In the preface to his latest creation, the genius Spaniard addressed the readers with the following words: "Forgive, joy! Forgive, fun! Forgive, funny friends! I am dying in the hope of a quick and joyful meeting with you in the other world." Thus ended the long-suffering, but full of greatness and nobility life of the great writer and citizen.
A short biography of Miguel de Cervantes is outlined in this article.
Miguel de Cervantes short biography
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra- a famous Spanish writer, author of the novel "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha".
Born presumably September 29, 1547 in a family of impoverished nobles, in the city of Alcala de Henares. When Miguel grew up, his parents were close to ruin, so he entered the service of Giulio Aquaviva y Aragon, the Pope's ambassador, worked for him as a housekeeper. Together they left Madrid for Rome in 1569.
Under Aquaviv, Cervantes was about a year, and in the second half of 1570 he became a soldier 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 at Lepanto on October 7, 1571 became significant for Cervantes, because he was wounded, as a result of which only his right hand 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 sailing from Naples to Spain. They were sold into slavery and ended up in Algeria. Cervantes was helped to avoid severe punishments and death 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 to find his freedom.
A life full of misadventures was replaced by the monotony of the civil service, the constant search for livelihoods. 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 of an impression on the public. The income from writing was too small, and the writer moved from Madrid to Seville, where he was hired as a Commissioner for Food Procurements. Over the 6-year period of service, he had to be arrested three times: such consequences were the negligence of maintaining records.
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 in his biography the most successful period is associated with this city.
In 1605, the first part of Cervantes's greatest novel was published - "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha", which, being a parody of chivalric romances, became a real encyclopedia of the life of Spain in the 17th century. But world fame did not come to Cervantes immediately.
The second part of the novel was written only 10 years later, and in this interval a number of works were published that strengthen his literary fame: the second most important work - "Instructive novellas" (1613), a collection of "8 comedies and 8 interludes". At the end of his career, a love-adventure novel entitled "The Wanderings of Persilius and Sikhismunda" appeared. Despite his fame, Cervantes remained a poor man, he lived in the Madrid area for the poor.
In 1609 he became a member of the Brotherhood of Slaves of the Holy Communion; his two sisters and his wife took monastic vows. He did the same - became a monk - and Cervantes himself literally on the eve of his death.
Personal life of Cervantes
On December 12, 1584, Miguel Cervantes married a nineteen-year-old noblewoman of the city of Esquias Catalina Palacios de Salazar, from whom he inherited a small dowry. He had one illegitimate daughter, Isabel de Cervantes.
