Cervantes biography. Miguel de Cervantes short biography

Citizenship:

Spain

Occupation:

Novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, soldier

Direction: Genre:

Novel, short story, tragedy, interlude

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra(Spanish) Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra; September 29, Alcala de Henares - April 23, Madrid) is a world famous Spanish writer. First of all, he is known as the author of one of the greatest works of world literature - the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”.

Cervantes family

Battle of Lepanto

There are several versions of his biography. The first, generally accepted version says that “at the very height of the war between Spain and the Turks, he entered military service under the banner. In the Battle of Lepanta, he appeared everywhere in the most dangerous place and, fighting with truly poetic enthusiasm, received three wounds and lost his arm.” However, there is another, unlikely, version of his irreparable loss. Due to the poverty of his parents, Cervantes received a meager education and, unable to find a means of subsistence, was forced to steal. It was for theft that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version is not credible - if only because at that time thieves’ hands were no longer cut off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

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

Service in Seville

In Seville he was engaged in the affairs of the Fleet on the orders of Antonio de Guevara.

Intention to travel to America

Consequences

Monument to Miguel de Cervantes in Madrid (1835)

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

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

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

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra(Spanish: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra; September 29, 1547, Alcala de Henares, Castile - April 23, 1616, Madrid) - world famous Spanish writer and soldier.
Born in Alcala de Henares (Province of Madrid). His father, hidalgo Rodrigo de Cervantes (the origin of Cervantes’s second surname, “Saavedra,” on the titles of his books, has not been established), was a modest surgeon, a nobleman by blood, his mother was Dona Leonor de Cortina; their large family constantly lived in poverty, which did not leave the future writer throughout his sorrowful life. Very little is known about the early stages of his life. Since the 1970s In Spain, there is a widespread version about the Jewish origin of Cervantes, which influenced his work; probably, his mother came from a family of baptized Jews.
Cervantes's family often moved from city to city, so the future writer was not able to receive a systematic education. In 1566-1569, Miguel studied at the Madrid city school with the famous humanist grammarian Juan Lopez de Hoyos, a follower of Erasmus of Rotterdam.
Miguel made his debut in literature with four poems published in Madrid under the patronage of his teacher Lopez de Hoyos.
In 1569, after a street skirmish that ended with the injury of one of its participants, Cervantes fled to Italy, where he served in Rome in the retinue of Cardinal Acquaviva, and then enlisted as a soldier. On October 7, 1571, he took part in the naval battle of Lepanto and was wounded in the forearm (his left hand remained inactive for the rest of his life).
Miguel Cervantes participated in military campaigns in Italy (he was in Naples), Navarino (1572), Portugal, and also carried out service trips to Oran (1580s); served in Seville. He also took part in a number of sea expeditions, including to Tunisia. In 1575, carrying a letter of recommendation (lost by Miguel during captivity) from Juan of Austria, commander-in-chief of the Spanish army in Italy, he sailed from Italy to Spain. The galley carrying Cervantes and his younger brother Rodrigo was attacked by Algerian pirates. He spent five years in captivity. He tried to escape four times, but failed each time, and was only miraculously not executed; in captivity he was subjected to various tortures. In the end he was ransomed from captivity by the monks of the Brotherhood of the Holy Trinity and returned to Madrid.
In 1585 he married Catalina de Salazar and published a pastoral novel, La Galatea. At the same time, his plays began to be staged in Madrid theaters, the vast majority of which, unfortunately, have not survived to this day. Of Cervantes' early dramatic experiments, the tragedy "Numancia" and the "comedy" "Algerian Manners" have been preserved.
Two years later, he moved from the capital to Andalusia, where for ten years he first served as a supplier to the “Great Armada” and then as a tax collector. For financial shortfalls in 1597 (In 1597 he was imprisoned in a Seville prison for a period of seven months on charges of embezzlement of government money (the bank in which Cervantes kept the collected taxes burst) was imprisoned in a Seville prison, where he began writing a novel " The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha" ("Del ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de La Mancha").

In 1605 he was released, and in the same year the first part of Don Quixote was published, which immediately became incredibly popular.
In 1607, Cervantes arrived in Madrid, where he spent the last nine years of his life. In 1613 he published the collection “Edifying Stories” (“Novelas ejemplares”), and in 1615 the second part of “Don Quixote”. In 1614 - in the midst of Cervantes's work on it - a false continuation of the novel appeared, written by an anonymous person hiding under the pseudonym "Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda". The Prologue to "The False Quixote" contained rude attacks personally against Cervantes, and its content demonstrated a complete lack of understanding by the author (or authors?) of the forgery of the full complexity of the original's plan. “The False Quixote” contains a number of episodes that plotally coincide with episodes from the second part of Cervantes’s novel. The dispute among researchers about the priority of Cervantes or the anonymous author cannot be resolved definitively. Most likely, Miguel Cervantes specifically included revised episodes from Avellaneda’s work in the second part of Don Quixote in order to once again demonstrate his ability to transform artistically unimportant texts into art (similar to his treatment of knightly epics).
“The second part of the cunning caballero Don Quixote of La Mancha” was published in 1615 in Madrid in the same printing house as the “Don Quixote” edition of 1605. For the first time, both parts of “Don Quixote” were published under the same cover in 1637.
Cervantes finished his last book, “The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda” (“Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda”), a love adventure novel in the style of the ancient novel “Ethiopica”, just three days before his death on April 23, 1616; This book was published by the writer's widow in 1617.
A few days before his death, he became a monk. His grave remained lost for a long time, since there was not even an inscription on his tomb (in one of the churches). A monument to him was erected in Madrid only in 1835; on the pedestal there is a Latin inscription: “To Michael Cervantes Saavedra, king of the Spanish poets.” A crater on Mercury is named after Cervantes.
According to the latest data, the first Russian translator of Cervantes is N. I. Oznobishin, who translated the short story “Cornelia” in 1761.

In Spain, 1605 was an exceptionally prosperous 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 occupy a leading position on the world stage. However, the basis for an 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 sea. They had one goal - to preserve and further expand their vast possessions in Europe, America, Asia and Africa. Those increased significantly after 1581, when Portugal joined Spain and transferred all its colonies to it.

During this period of time, victories were won over the rebellious inhabitants of Flanders and 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 compare in importance with an event that at first glance was modest and insignificant.

In January 1605, a novel by a little-known elderly writer, and also a disabled person, appeared in bookstores in Madrid. This work was called "The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha." More than 400 years have passed since the appearance of this book. Who now remembers Charles V, Philip II, Philip III, other kings and generals? These people are lost in the centuries, but the immortal work continues to live a full 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 haunted him from his birth to his grave. The writer himself, in his poem “Journey to Parnassus,” speaks of himself as a man tormented by damned poverty. Even when he was already at the zenith of his fame, they said about him that he was an old man, a soldier, a hidalgo and a poor man.

Having learned about this, the French exclaimed in bewilderment: “And Spain did not enrich such a great writer and does not support him at the state expense?” To which the Spaniards replied: “Necessity forces him to write great creations. Therefore, praise be to 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 a baptismal record in one of the churches in the city of Alcala de Henares, on September 29, 1547, a boy was born to the free practicing physician Rodrigo de Cervantes and his wife Leonora de Cortinas - the future creator of Don Quixote. He was the 4th child in the family. There were six children in total. Three girls and three boys.

According to his father, the future great writer had a noble noble origin. But in the 16th century the family became poor and fell into decline. Rodrigo suffered from deafness 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.

Financially, the family lived very poorly. Rodrigo constantly moved from city to city in search of work, and his wife and children followed him. But eternal need did not bring discord and scandals into family life. Rodrigo and Leonora loved each other, and their children lived as a friendly, united group.

Constant moving had more of a positive side than a negative side for little Miguel. Thanks to them, from an early age he became acquainted with the genuine, and not 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 loan shark. The family's meager property was sold under the hammer, and the vagabond life began again. The family went to Cordoba, then returned to Valladolid, and after that moved to Madrid and finally settled in Seville.

At the age of 10, Miguel entered the Jesuit college. He remained there for 4 years from 1557 to 1561 and received a secondary education. Further studies took place in Madrid with the famous Spanish teacher and humanist Juan Lopez de Hoyos. Meanwhile, the young man’s family was completely ruined. In this regard, Miguel had to think about how to earn his own bread and help his impoverished family.

Youth

Poor nobles at that time had 3 roads: go to church, serve at court or in the army. The future great writer chose the 2nd path. Juan Lopez de Hoyos gave his student a letter of recommendation, and he took a job with the Ambassador Extraordinary of Pope Pius V, Monsignor Julio Acquaviva y Aragon. In 1569, together with the ambassador, Cervantes left Madrid for Rome as a chamberlain (key keeper).

The future writer spent a year in the service of Acquaviva, and in 1570 he entered service in 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 rich culture of this country.

On October 7, 1571, the naval battle of Lepanto took place. In it, the fleet of the Holy League (Spain, Vatican and Venice) completely defeated the Turkish squadron, which put an end to Turkish expansion into 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 turned out to be fatal. The young man practically ceased to control his left hand “to the greater glory of his right” - as he himself later said. After this, the future great writer ended up in the hospital, where he stayed until the beginning of May 1572. But, after being discharged from the hospital, he did not leave military service. He expressed a desire to serve further, and was enlisted in a 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 military service in Sardinia, and then in Naples.

On September 20, 1575, Miguel, along with his younger brother Rodrigo, who also served in the army, boarded the galley "Sun" and departed for Spain. But this trip ended tragically. The ship was boarded by pirates and the captured brothers were taken to Algeria. Miguel had letters of recommendation with him, and the pirates considered him an important and rich person. They asked for a huge ransom of 500 gold escudos for him.

To make the prisoner compliant, 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 a ransom. So 5 long years passed. During this time, the young man showed himself to be a noble, honest and persistent person. With his courageous behavior, he even earned the respect of such a thug as Hassan Pasha.

In 1577, relatives saved up money and bought Rodrigo. Miguel had to wait another 3 long years. The king refused to ransom his faithful soldier, and the family, through incredible efforts, collected the amount of 3,300 reais. This money was transferred to Hassan Pasha, and he was apparently glad to get rid of the dangerous man. On September 19, 1580, Cervantes was released from Algerian captivity, and on October 24, he left Algeria to set foot on his native Spanish soil a few days later.

Life after captivity

Spain did not greet its compatriot kindly. At home, no one needed him, and his family was in a terrible state. My 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 Duke of Alba's headquarters in Tomar.

At this time, Miguel had an illegitimate daughter, Isabel 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 went to the south of the country to Andalusia. It was the center of trade relations with the American colonies. It opened up wide opportunities for commercial initiatives. The writer settled in Seville and received the position of commissar for supplies for the Invincible Armada. It was a Klondike for bribe-takers and unscrupulous individuals. Other food commissioners made a fortune in a year, but Miguel lived on a modest salary and tried to conduct all his affairs honestly.

As a result, he made a bunch of enemies and 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 eagerly took on a new business. He collected a sum of 7,400 reais and transferred the money to a Seville bank. But he declared himself bankrupt, and the tax collector was sued for money. Cervantes failed to prove that he gave all the money collected to the state. In 1597 he was again sent to prison for 3 months. In 1604, the writer parted ways with Seville and moved to Valladolid. Soon his family joined him.

Don Quixote and his faithful squire Sancho Panza

Creation

The first large and unfinished novel in prose and verse, Galatea, was begun in 1582, and was published in 1585. In the 18th century, this work enjoyed the same success as Don Quixote. Nowadays, for some reason, the novel is unfairly forgotten. This is a story about the love of 2 shepherds, Elisio 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 show Galatea’s marriage with one of the shepherds in the 2nd part, which he never wrote.

The novel is interesting not because of its sharp plot line, but because of its inserted episodes. The best of them is the story of the adventures of Nishida, Timbrio, Blanca and Silerio. This is one of the central places of the work.

As for dramaturgy, Miguel de Cervantes wrote about 30 plays. Among them are “Algerian Manners”, “The Destruction of Numancia” and “Sea Battle”. Numancia is considered the pinnacle of Spanish theater during the Golden Age. Two stories were also written: “Rinconete and Cortadillo” and “The Jealous Extremadurian”. They were published in 1613 in the collection of "Edifying Stories".

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 faithful 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 in the summer of 1614. The real name of the author of the fake is unknown to this day. Miguel himself learned about the fake 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 false second part, although it was written in glib literary language, was not successful among readers and went, in general, unnoticed.

Between the first and second parts of the great novel, the second most literary work of importance was created - “Edifying Novels”. They were so brilliant that even Cervantes' 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 extremadure.”

Monument to Cervantes

The end of life's journey

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 the financial situation. Miguel's sisters died in 1609 and 1611. 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 Journey of Persiles and Sikhismunda”. It was finished on April 16, 1616. Appeared in bookstores in April 1617, and the writer died on April 23, 1616. Cervantes was buried at the expense of the Brotherhood of Slaves of the Most Holy Sacrament, of which he had been a member since 1609.

In the preface to his latest creation, the brilliant Spaniard addressed the readers with the following words: “Forgive me, joy! Forgive me, fun! Forgive me, cheerful 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 filled with greatness and nobility, life of the great writer and citizen.

Miguel de Cervantes's brief biography is presented in this article.

Miguel de Cervantes short biography

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra- famous Spanish writer, author of the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha.”

Born presumably 29 September 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 Acquaviva y Aragon, the ambassador of the Pope, and worked for him as a housekeeper. Together they left Madrid for Rome in 1569.

Cervantes stayed under Acquaviva for about a year, and in the second half of 1570 he became a soldier in the Spanish army, a regiment stationed in Italy. This period of his biography took him 5 years and had a significant impact on his future life, since Cervantes had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with Italy, its rich culture, and social order. The famous naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 became significant for Cervantes as well. 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 heading from Naples to Spain. They were sold into slavery and ended up in Algeria. The presence of letters of recommendation to the king helped Cervantes avoid heavy punishments and death. 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 civil service and the constant search for a means of livelihood. The beginning of literary activity also dates back 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 took a job as a commissar for food supplies. During the 6-year period of service, he had to be arrested three times: such consequences were caused by negligence in record keeping.

In 1603, Cervantes retired and the following 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 creative period is associated with this city in his biography.

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 life in 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 during this period a number of works were published that strengthened his fame as a writer: the second most important work is “Edifying Novels” (1613), a collection of “8 Comedies and 8 Interludes.” At the end of his creative path, a love adventure novel appeared called “The Wanderings of Persilius and Sikhismunda.” Despite his fame, Cervantes remained a poor man, living in a low-income area of ​​Madrid.

In 1609 he became a member of the Confraternity of the Slaves of the Most Blessed Sacrament; his two sisters and wife took monastic vows. Cervantes himself did the same thing - he became a monk - literally on the eve of his death.

Personal life of Cervantes

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

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

Biography

early years

Church where Cervantes was baptized, Alcala de Henares

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

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

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

Activities of the writer in Italy

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

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

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

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

In Algerian captivity

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

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

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

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

Service in Seville

Intention to travel to America

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

Personal life

Almost on his deathbed, Cervantes did not stop working; a few days before his death, he took monastic vows. On April 22, 1616, his life ended (he died of dropsy), which the bearer himself in his philosophical humor called “long indiscretion” and, leaving which, he “carried away on his shoulders a stone with an inscription that read the destruction of his hopes.” However, according to the customs of that time, the date of his death was recorded as the date of his funeral - April 23. Because of this, it is sometimes said that the date of death of Cervantes coincides with the date of death of another great writer - William Shakespeare, in fact, Cervantes died 11 days earlier (since, at that time, the Gregorian calendar was in force in Spain, and the Julian calendar in England). April 23, 1616 is sometimes considered the end of the Renaissance. For a long time, no one knew the exact burial place of the outstanding Spanish writer. Only in 2015 did archaeologists manage to discover his remains, which were solemnly reburied in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Madrid.

Heritage

Monument to Miguel de Cervantes in Madrid (1835)

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

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

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

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

Bibliography

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

Russian translations

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

Memory

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

see also

Notes

1. Cervantes Saavedra Miguel de // Great Soviet Encyclopedia: [in 30 volumes] / ch. ed. A. M. Prokhorov. - 3rd ed. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
2. "Cervantes, Miguel de", The Encyclopedia Americana, 1994