Miguel Cervantes brief biography is the most basic. Biography of Cervantes. World renowned Spanish writer. Military service. Difficult fate

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 set approximately on the basis of the records of the church book and the then tradition of giving a child a name in honor of a saint whose holiday falls on a 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, is another mystery in 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, which is visible in his later works, was in a way a desire to return to early period Renaissance.

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 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 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 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 discovered 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 in the gallery Sun, under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “received two shots 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 Castaneda, 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 1580, Miguel's mother stated that she had 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 in order to redeem him from captivity. On October 22, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarian) Juan Gil "Liberator of the 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 "Revision 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, Shal, 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 charmed 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 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), is 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 appeared in Valladolid, where he was 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 edition and 4 others in the same year) and abroad (translations into many languages). Financial situation However, she did not improve the author in the least, 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 published after the author's death was written. Persiles and Sikhismunda ".

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 Saavedra, king of the 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, as 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, inner meaning- cause uncontrollable laughter; but it is soon replaced in the thinking and feeling reader by another laugh, "laughter through tears," which is an essential and inalienable condition for every great humorous creation.

In Cervantes' novel, in the fate of his hero, it was the 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 the literary sense. Turgenev noted another very important moment 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."

Citizenship:

Spain

Occupation:

Novelist, short story writer, playwright, poet, soldier

Direction: Genre:

Novel, novella, tragedy, interlude

Miguel de Servantes Saavedra(Spanish. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra; September 29, Alcala de Henares - April 23, Madrid) - 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".

The Cervantes family

Battle of Lepanto

There are several versions of his biography. The first, generally accepted version says that “in the midst of the war between Spain and the Turks, he entered military service under the banner. In the battle of Lepant, he appeared everywhere at 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 livelihood, 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 does not inspire confidence - if only because thieves at that time were no longer chopped off their hands, 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 captivity) for His Majesty and the Ministers, as he stated in his testimony dated July 25, 1578. He also asked the king for mercy and assistance to the brave soldier.

Service in Seville

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

Intention to go to America

Effects

Monument to Miguel de Cervantes in Madrid (1835)

Cervantes' world significance is based 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, as 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 it is soon replaced in the thinking and feeling reader by another laugh, "laughter through tears," which is an essential and inalienable condition for every great humorous creation.

> Biographies of writers and poets

Short biography of Miguel Cervantes

Miguel Cervantes is an eminent Spanish writer of the 16th century, the author of the world famous novel about Don Quixote Lamansky. Born September 29, 1547 in Alcala de Henares in a poor noble family. The father of the future writer was a surgeon. Miguel was the fourth child in a large family... There are suggestions that in his youth, Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca, as well as the Jesuits of Seville or Cordoba. In 1569, after a serious street skirmish, he fled to Rome, where he worked for some time in the retinue of Cardinal Aquaviva.

In 1571, Cervantes took part in a naval battle and was seriously wounded in the forearm. After that, his left hand remained inactive forever. He took part in many sea expeditions, visited Tunisia, Spain and even in Algerian captivity for five years. In 1580, he was finally able to return to his homeland. In December 1584 he married Catalina de Palacios. In the same year, he had an illegitimate daughter from another woman. As a retired soldier, he decided to devote himself to literary art. Cervantes' first plays were not very successful on stage. Recognition came with the pastoral novel Galatea (1585).

However, there was not much income from writing, so Cervantes moved to Seville and went to work as a Commissioner for Food Procurements. He kept the documentation carelessly, for which he was arrested more than once. During one of his stays in prison, an image of a man capable of chivalrous deeds arose in his head. This was the plan for Don Quixote. He worked on his main book over the years, opening up new perspectives for the plot. From 1600 to 1604, he worked diligently on the creation of the first part of the novel. In 1604 he moved to Valladolid, from where he negotiated with a Madrid bookseller.

At the end of 1604, "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote Lamansky" came out in a small print run. The novel was undoubtedly a success. This is evidenced by the fact that soon a second edition appeared in Madrid. The author himself has twice reprinted his book with copyright amendments. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza became national heroes and participants in carnival processions in the cities of Spain. The material situation of the writer, however, did not improve in any way, but on the contrary, a hostile attitude towards him manifested itself with greater force. For the last decade of his life, he worked hard and published new works. Miguel Cervantes died of dropsy on April 23, 1616, on the same day as the great Shakespeare.

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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 physician, and Doña Leonor de Cortina, 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. Difficult fate

In 1570, Miguel became a soldier in the Spanish Marine Corps located in Naples. In 1571, de Cervantes sailed on the ship "Marquis", which was part of the galley fleet of the Holy League. In October, the Marquis defeated the Ottoman flotilla during the Battle of Patras Gulf. 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 in the chest, one in the left forearm. The last bullet made de Cervantes' arm immobilized.

After the end of the battle, Miguel spent six months in the hospital. Then, from 1572 to 1575, he continued to serve in Naples, sometimes participating in expeditions. 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. He tried to escape four times, but each time the Algerians caught him and punished him severely.

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 military fleet "Invincible Armada" and a collector of arrears. In this field, de Cervantes failed - he naively entrusted large sum state money to one banker, and he, without thinking twice, went on the run with them. Because of this, in 1597, Miguel was imprisoned. It was a difficult time for the writer - yes, then he already found his vocation in literature and worked solely in order to buy his own food. Five years later, Cervantes, accused of financial 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 business, 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 success 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' novel "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was finally published. The public liked the book, and not only Spanish, but also abroad. Unfortunately, despite the novel's warm reception, the writer's pocket was not replenished with coins. However, the commercial collapse did not prevent Miguel from publishing the second part of the novel, and with it several more works. And although all the creations 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 Esquías. 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

On April 22, 1616, in Madrid, Miguel de Cervantes, the creator of the knight Don Quixote and his devoted squire Sancho Panza, died of dropsy. A few days before his death, Miguel was tonsured a monk.

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 the crypt at the monastery of de las Trinitarisas. The ceremonial reburial took place in June of the same year at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Madrid.

isp. 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; possibly 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 Aquaviva y Aragon, the Pope's ambassador, worked for him as a housekeeper. Together they left Madrid for Rome in 1569.

Under Aquavive 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 right hand... 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 en route from Naples to Spain. They were sold into slavery and ended up in Algeria. Cervantes was helped to avoid heavy 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. During 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, "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha", was published, which, being a parody of romances of chivalry, became a real encyclopedia of the life of Spain in the 17th century. literary work filled with the deepest philosophical and social content. The name of its protagonist has long become a household name. World fame did not come to Cervantes immediately, the author of "Don Quixote" was better known as a man 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 - "Instructive short stories" (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. On 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 followed Cervantes even after his death: the absence of an inscription on his grave led to the fact that very long time the place of burial 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 physician, his mother, Doña Leonor de Cortina, was the daughter of a nobleman who had lost his fortune. Their family had seven children, 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 is set approximately on the basis of the records of the church book and the then tradition of giving a child a name in honor of a saint whose holiday falls on a 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.

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

Writer's activities in Italy

The reasons that prompted Cervantes to leave Castile remain unknown. Whether he was a student, or escaped justice, or escaped a royal arrest warrant for wounded Antonio de Sigura in a duel, is another mystery in 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 the achievements of the ancient world a powerful impetus to 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.

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

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 Marquis, 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 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 aboard the ship and received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the forearm. The last wound rendered his left arm mobile. In his poem "Journey to Parnassus" he had to say that he " lost the ability of his left hand for 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.

In Algerian captivity

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 on 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 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 in the gallery" The sun“Under the command of Carrillo de Quesada,” and that he “was wounded by two arquebus shots in the chest, and injured in his left arm, which he could not 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 “ on the day of the battle he was ill 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 over and above his usual pay.

In the petition of Miguel's mother in 1580, it was reported that she asked " give permission to export 2,000 ducats in the form of goods from the kingdom of Valencia»For the ransom of her son.

Service in Portugal

After his release 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 a time an agent for Antonio Guevara, the Royal Commissioner for the American Navy. This was an ordeal for him. new life; he had to give up his favorite literary pursuits and reading, which served him as a respite from work; only occasionally could I see my family. His time was spent traveling through 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 correspond to his inclinations at all, and he suffered, feeling out of place.

Nevertheless, Cervantes fell in love with Seville. He liked that no one here knew him, that he could, at will, mix in the crowd, which his experienced eye watched with curiosity. During the ten years spent by Cervantes in Seville, this city became for him a 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 submits a petition to the Council of India for a vacancy in the American colonies, in particular in “ Audit Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Sokonusco in Guatemala, or Bookkeeper in the Galleys of Cartagena, or Corregidor of La Paz”, And all because he has not yet 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 can be trusted».

Cervantes about myself

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, cheerful eyes and a humped, albeit regular nose; with a silver beard, which was still golden twenty years ago; long mustache, small mouth; with teeth that are not very rare, but also not thick, because he has only six of them, and, moreover, very unprepossessing and poorly spaced, because there is no correspondence between them; ordinary growth - neither big nor small; with a good complexion, rather light than dark; 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, composed Journey to Parnassus and other works that go from hand to hand distorted, and sometimes without the name of the author. His name is colloquially Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He served as a soldier for several years and spent five and a half years in captivity, where he managed to learn to patiently endure misfortunes. In the naval battle of Lepanto, a shot from an arquebus caused his hand to be crippled, and although this injury seems otherwise ugly, it is beautiful in his eyes, for he received it in one of the most famous battles that were known in the past centuries and which can happen in the 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 novellas. Translated from Spanish by B. Krzhevsky. Moscow. Publishing house "Khudozhestvennaya literatura". 1983

Personal life

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

Character

The best biographer of Cervantes, Shal, 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 an unselfish soul, incapable of gaining fame for itself or counting on success, alternately charmed 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 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. "

Literary activity

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

Miguel's literary career 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 with little success.

To get his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the quartermaster service; he is assigned to buy provisions for the "Invincible Armada", then appointed as a collector of arrears. In the performance of these duties, he suffers great setbacks. Having entrusted the state money to one banker who escaped with them, Cervantes was sent to prison in 1597 on charges of embezzlement. Five years later, he was destined to be imprisoned again on charges of financial abuse. His life in those years was a whole chain of severe hardships, hardships and calamities.

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 cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" was published, which had tremendous success in Spain (in a few weeks 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 strengthened 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 short stories, many dramatic works (The Jealous Old Man, Theater of Miracles, The Labyrinth of Love, etc. .), 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 22, 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." However, according to the customs of that time, the date of his burial was recorded as the date of his death - April 23rd. 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 effect in Spain, and in England - the Julian calendar). April 23, 1616 is sometimes considered the end of the Renaissance. Cervantes died in extreme poverty, his grave is lost.

Heritage

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: “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedre, king of Spanish poets, year M.D.CCC.XXXV”.