Miguelde Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes
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Miguel de Cervantes
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Miguel deCervantes
Born Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
29 September 1547 (assumed)
Alcalá de Henares, Castile
Died 22 April 1616 (aged 68)
Madrid, Castile
Occupation Novelist, poet, playwright, soldierLanguage Spanish
Nationality Spanish
Notable work(s) Don Quixote
Entremeses
Novelas Ejemplares
Influences[show]
Influenced[show]
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Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra[b] (Spanish:[miˈɣel de θerˈβantes saaˈβeðɾa]; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616)[2] was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His magnum opus, Don Quixote, considered to be the first modern Europeannovel,[3] is a classic of Western literature, and is regarded amongst the best works of fiction ever written.[4] His influence on the Spanish language has been so great that the language is oftencalled la lengua de Cervantes ("the language of Cervantes").[5] He was dubbed El Príncipe de los Ingenios ("The Prince of Wits").[6]

In 1569, Cervantes moved to Rome, where he served as a valet toGiulio Acquaviva, a wealthy priest who was elevated to cardinal the next year. By then, Cervantes had enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment and continued his military life until 1575,when he was captured by Algerian corsairs. After five years of slavery he was released on ransom from his captors by his parents and the Trinitarians, a Catholic religious order. He subsequentlyreturned to his family in Madrid.

In 1585, Cervantes published a pastoral novel named La Galatea. Because of financial problems, Cervantes worked as a purveyor for the Spanish Armada, and later as a taxcollector. In 1597, discrepancies in his accounts of three years previous landed him in the Crown Jail of Seville. In 1605, he was in Valladolid, just when the immediate success of the first part of...