Cervantes was born in 1547 in the small town of Alcala de Henares, twenty miles from Madrid. He was the youngest member of the poor but noble hidalgo family.

His father's name was Rodrigo Cervantes, his mother was Leonora Cortinas. In addition to Miguel, the family had two daughters, Andrea and Louise, and a son, Rodrigo. The most famous Spanish writer was the fourth of seven children in the family of a barber-chiropractor. He was baptized on October 9, and September 29 is assumed to be his birthday, since this is the day of St. Miguel.

The surname Cervantes had five centuries of chivalry and public service and was not only widespread in Spain, but had representatives in Mexico and other parts of America. "This family," the historian testifies, "appears in the Spanish chronicles for five centuries, surrounded by such splendor and glory that, regarding its origin, there is no reason to envy any of the most noble families of Europe." Through marriage ties, the family name Saavedra merged in the 15th century with the surname Cervantes, which fell into extreme decline in the 16th century. Using the example of the Cervantes family, one can easily trace the history of the impoverishment of the Spanish nobility and the growth of the so-called "hidalgia" - nobles "deprived of their fortune, lords, the right of jurisdiction and high public offices."

The writer's grandfather, Juan, occupied a fairly prominent position in Andalusia, was at one time the senior mayor of the city of Cordoba and had a famous fortune. Cervantes' father, Rodrigo, who suffered from deafness, did not hold any judicial and administrative posts and did not go further than a free practicing doctor, that is, he was a person, even from the point of view of "hidalgia", quite insignificant. The writer's mother also belonged to the circle of poor nobles.

Rodrigo de Cervantes, in search of earnings, was forced to move from place to place. The family followed him. Judging by the heroic efforts that Cervantes' parents spent later on collecting the necessary amount to ransom Miguel and his younger brother Rodrigo from captivity in Algeria, the family was friendly and strong.

The wandering physician Rodrigo de Cervantes and his family finally settled in Valladolid, then the official capital of the kingdom, in 1551. But even here he did not live long. Less than a year later, Rodrigo was arrested for failing to pay a debt to a local moneylender; as a result of the arrest, the family's already meager property was sold at auction.

A vagrant life began again, leading Cervantes first to Cordoba, then returning him to Valladolid, from there transferring him to Madrid and, finally, to Seville. Miguel's school years belong to the Valladolid period. As a ten-year-old, he entered the Jesuit college, where he remained for four years from 1557 to 1561. Miguel completed his education in Madrid with one of the best Spanish teachers of that time, the humanist Juan Lopez de Hoyos, who later became his godfather in literature.

By the end of the sixties of the XVI century, the Cervantes family entered a period of final ruin. In this regard, Miguel and his younger brother Rodrigo had to think about how to earn their own bread, choosing one of the three possibilities that opened up before the middle class Spanish noblemen - to seek their fortune in church, at court or in the army. Miguel, taking advantage of the recommendation of his teacher Juan López de Hoyos, who proclaimed him "his dear and beloved student", chose the second option. He entered the service of the extraordinary ambassador of Pope Pius the Fifth, Monsignor Giulio Aquaviva y Aragon, who arrived in Madrid in 1568.

The publication of the first poem by Cervantes, dedicated to the death of the young wife of King Philip II of Spain, Elizabeth of Valois, in 1568, coincides with the same period. Together with the ambassador, Cervantes left Madrid and arrived in Rome at the beginning of 1569. Under Aquaviv, he served as a camerlegno (key keeper), that is, an approximate person.

In the service of Aquaviva, who became a cardinal in the spring of 1570, Cervantes spent about a year. In the second half of 1570, he entered the Spanish army stationed in Italy, in the regiment of Miguel de Moncada.

The five years spent by Cervantes in the ranks of the Spanish troops in Italy were a very important period in his life. They gave him the opportunity to visit the largest Italian cities: Rome, Milan, Bologna, Venice, Palermo - and thoroughly get acquainted with the way of life in Italy. No less important than close contact with the life of Italy in the 16th century, with the life of its cities, was for Cervantes his acquaintance with the rich Italian culture, especially literature. Cervantes' long stay in Italy allowed him not only to master the Italian language, but also to expand the humanitarian knowledge acquired by him in the Madrid school.

To a thorough acquaintance with ancient literature and mythology, Cervantes added a wide acquaintance with all the best that created the Italian Renaissance both in literature and in the field of philosophy - with the poetry of Dante, Petrarch, Ariosto, with the "Decameron" Boccaccio, with the Italian novella and pastoral a novel, with the Neoplatonists. Although Cervantes half-jokingly called himself "a talent not sophisticated in science," he was, by his own admission, an avid reader.

Along with the greatest representatives of ancient literature - Homer, Virgil, Horace, Ovid and others, as well as the above-mentioned writers of the Italian Renaissance, the list includes characters from Scripture and Eastern (Arabic) writing. The worldview of Cervantes was influenced by the ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam, he was a remarkable connoisseur of Spanish national literature, folk poetry (romances) and national folklore in general.

In the early 70s, war broke out between the Holy League, which was formed by Spain, Venice and the Pope, and the Ottoman Empire. Cervantes distinguished himself in the famous naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571, when the Turkish fleet was defeated. On that day, Cervantes was sick with a fever, but demanded that he be allowed to take part in the battle: thanks to the testimony of one of his comrades, the words he uttered reached him: “I prefer, even being sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier ... but do not hide under the protection of the deck. " Cervantes' request was granted: at the head of twelve soldiers, he guarded the boat ladder during the battle and received three gunshot wounds: two in the chest and one in the forearm. This last wound turned out to be fatal: since then, Cervantes no longer possessed his left hand, as he himself said, "to greater glory with his right."

Serious wounds led the writer to a hospital in Messina, from where he left only at the end of April 1572. But the injury did not induce him to leave military service. Enlisted in the Lope de Figueroa regiment, Cervantes spent some time on the island of Corfu, where the regiment was stationed. On October 2, 1572, he took part in the naval battle of Navarino, and the next year he became a member of the expeditionary corps sent under the command of don Juan of Austria to North Africa to strengthen the fortresses of Goleta and Tunisia. In 1573, the regiment of Cervantes was returned to Italy to carry out garrison service, first in Sardinia, and somewhat later, in 1574, in Naples.

In 1575, Cervantes left Italy, having secured letters of recommendation from Juan of Austria, who appreciated a brave soldier in him, and sailed with his brother, Rodrigo, from Naples. On September 26, 1575, the galley in which he sailed with his brother was captured near the Bolear Islands by African corsairs. The entire crew, along with Cervantes, despite courageous resistance, were captured and sold into slavery by Dali-Mami in Algeria. Cervantes himself was chained, but thanks to the letters of recommendation from Juan of Austria, from which the corsairs deduced a conclusion about the wealth and nobility of the prisoner, they did not treat him too cruelly.

The first attempt to escape Cervante6s failed due to the treason of the Arab, who was supposed to be the guide for the fugitives intending to get to Oran. The Arab abandoned the fugitives to their fate on the very first day. In 1576, taking advantage of the fact that one of the ransomed captives was returning to his homeland, Cervantes sent a message to his family about his slavery. Cervantes's father mobilized all his meager funds to ransom his sons, including the dowry of both daughters. However, the funds received were not enough, and Cervantes used them to ransom his brother in August 1577.

The new liberation plan, worked out jointly with his brother, was also unsuccessful. At the moment when the fugitives were about to board a waiting ship, their refuge was discovered by the Turks. The situation of the prisoners deteriorated greatly, and all of them were threatened with the most severe punishment, but Cervantes announced that he alone was the culprit in organizing the escape. Careful surveillance was established over him. After some time, he found a way to inform the ruler of Oran about the plight of the prisoners and outlined a possible plan for their salvation. However, the Moor, who was entrusted with the delivery of this letter, was captured on the way and impaled.

Another attempt ended in failure. The fugitives were supposed to sail on a frigate equipped by two Valencian merchants, but were betrayed by a former Dominican monk who reported this to an Algerian dei. For some time, Cervantes hid with one of his friends, but when he learned that the dey was looking for him everywhere and threatened with death to the harboring people, he voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of enemies. He stated that he alone came up with the escape plan, with the participation of four comrades who were at large, and that none of the prisoners knew about the plan until the frigate sailed away. Day imprisoned Cervantes for five months.

While Cervantes was looking for a way to escape from slavery, his father did not stop his efforts at home to ransom his son. With great difficulty and sacrifice, his family managed to collect 300 ducats, which were presented to the "brothers of redemption", a special public organization that was involved in the ransom of prisoners. However, for Cervantes, his owner demanded an amount that significantly exceeded the money sent by his relatives. Only with the help of one of the "brothers", who contributed the missing amount for Cervantes, he received freedom. It was September 19, 1580. He arrived in Spain, taking with him excellent certifications, but without any means of subsistence. Cervantes rejoined the army in Portugal, where he stayed from 1581 to 1583.

Later, a hectic, adventurous life gave way to the routine of the civil service, a constant lack of funds and attempts at writing. Once he even won the first prize in the competition of poets in Zaragoza - three silver spoons.

This period includes the first major work, Cervantes - the pastoral novel "Galatea" (Primera parte de la Galatea, dividida en seys libros, 1585), which had some success. This novel was supposed to consist of two parts, but the second part never saw the light of day, although Cervantes repeatedly promised to publish it. The pastoral novel gave the writer access to literary circles.

Meanwhile, the financial situation of the family during this time not only did not improve, but became more difficult every year, the family was replenished with the illegitimate daughter of Cervantes, Isavel de Saavedra. The marriage of Miguel in 1584 with a native of the city of Esquivas, nineteen-year-old Catalina de Salazar y Palacios, who brought him a very small dowry, did not help the family to rise.

In the fall of 1587, Cervantes managed to get a job as commissar for urgent procurement for the "Invincible Armada" in cities and villages located in the vicinity of Seville.

Supplies to the army were made by requisitioning surplus products from the population. For people with a bad conscience, for the "knights of easy money", supplies were a means of getting rich quick. But where other food commissioners made fortunes by bribes and embezzlement, Cervantes suffered only setbacks. He preferred to live on a meager salary, which, moreover, was paid very irregularly. Cervantes' reluctance to make a deal with his conscience almost ended tragically for him: the conscientious fulfillment of the commissioner's duties involved him in a dispute with the church administration in the town of Ecije and threatened him with excommunication, and this, in turn, could lead him to the dungeons of the Inquisition. In addition, Cervantes, with all his large and sober mind, was not distinguished by accuracy. The negligence in the reports led to clashes with the financial control authorities, to accusations of illegal requisitions, and withholding money. One of these clashes ended for Cervantes with imprisonment, albeit for a short time, in the prison of the city of Castro del Rio in 1592. Thus, the service in the food department not only did not improve the financial situation of Cervantes and his family, who still lived in Madrid, but, on the contrary, further complicated and worsened him.

The new appointment to the place of the collector of tax arrears in the kingdom of Granada, held in mid-1594, was a source of new disasters for Cervantes. Having traveled to Madrid and secured himself with a money guarantee, Cervantes began collecting arrears and in August of the same year he was able to transfer seven thousand four hundred reais to the Seville banker Simon Freire de Lima for transfer to Madrid. And it was here that Cervantes suffered another setback, surpassing all the others in size. The banker declared himself bankrupt, and although the Treasury managed to recover from him the amount handed by Cervantes, the matter did not end there.

Despite the fact that Cervantes lawfully handed over to the Treasury the entire remainder of the arrears he collected, the Treasury, accusing him of concealment, brought him a significant claim. And since Cervantes was unable to prove his innocence and pay for the claim, in September 1597 he was imprisoned in the Seville Royal Prison, in which he spent about three months. A new imprisonment, all in the same case of concealment of amounts, befell him in 1602. However, the authorities did not calm down on this. In November 1608, that is, ten to eleven years after the filing of the claim, they again summoned Cervantes to testify. This was all that the royal power gave to the "honored war veteran," who shed blood for her on the battlefields and honestly fulfilled the heavy duties assigned to him to requisition and collect arrears.

The beginning of a great period in the work of Cervantes, which gave the world his immortal novel in two parts "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha", his wonderful short stories, the collection "Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes", the poem "Journey to Parnassus" and "The Wanderings of Persiles and Sichismunda" , it should be considered 1603, to which, apparently, the beginning of the writing of "Don Quixote" belongs.

During one of his stay in the dungeon, according to the writer’s own admission, the image of a man who went crazy from reading novels of chivalry and went to perform feats of chivalry in imitation of the heroes of his favorite books arose in his imagination. Initially, this was the concept of a short story. In the process of working on it, the author opened up novel perspectives for the development of the plot about Don Quixote.

The dates are set on the basis of Cervantes' own words that his novel was born "in a dungeon, the abode of all kinds of interference, the abode of only dull sounds." The writer was referring to his imprisonment in a Seville prison in 1602.

In 1604, Cervantes parted with Seville and settled in the temporary capital of Spain - the city of Valladolid, where his family members then moved, with the exception of his wife, who continued to live in Esquivas. By this time, the Cervantes family had diminished: in Flanders, his younger brother and comrade in the Algerian captivity, Rodrigo, died - and now consisted of his two sisters, Andrea and Madalena, the illegitimate daughter of Isaveli de Saavedro and the niece of Costanza Ovando. The family's financial situation continued to be dire.

In the summer of 1604, Cervantes was in Madrid negotiating with the bookseller Robles about the publication of the novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha, completed by that time. The original "Cunning Hidalgo" was printed in Valladolid at the end of 1604 in a small edition. And appeared in Madrid bookstores in January 1605. The author was known more for his suffering in the Algerian captivity than for literary fame, an elderly person, moreover, a disabled person.

In the spring of 1605 in Madrid, in the printing house of Juan de la Cuesta, the second edition of the editio princeps was printed. The success of the novel is evidenced by the fact that in the same year its second edition appears, containing a number of discrepancies with the first, it is reprinted twice in Lisbon and once in Valencia. Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, as characters in carnival processions, appear on the streets of Spanish cities and even in the colonies - in the capital of Peru, Lima.

"The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha" (1605-1615) is a parody of a knightly novel, a kind of encyclopedia of Spanish life in the 17th century, a work with deep social and philosophical content. Don Quixote's name has become a household name for noble but fruitless efforts.

Thousands of pages have been written about Don Quixote, about the universal and national significance of the novel. It is unlikely that there is at least one world-famous writer who would not come up with his own interpretation of the novel or a judgment about it. According to Paul Lafargue, Don Quixote was Karl Marx's favorite book. In pre-revolutionary Russia, Pushkin spoke about the novel, advising Gogol at the time he created Dead Souls to take an example from Cervantes, Belinsky, who did not skimp on enthusiastic praise of Don Quixote, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Turgenev, who in his famous essay opposed the egoism of Hammanchlet hidalgo, Dostoevsky, Gorky, Lunacharsky. It is known that in childhood Mayakovsky liked to read the story of the cunning hidalgo.

In the novel, Cervantes seeks to convince readers that the only reason that prompted him to write was the desire to ridicule the absurdities of knightly novels, to kill them "with the power of laughter." Considering the great popularity of this literary fiction - it is enough to note that from 1508 to 1612 about one hundred and twenty works of the knightly genre appeared in Spain, of which only a few, like "Amadis of Gaul" or "Palmerin of England", had artistic merit, - we have to admit the legitimacy and the importance of the struggle undertaken by Cervantes. At the same time, we know that, having dealt with the literature of chivalry in the sixth chapter of the first part of the novel (the destruction of Don Quixote's chivalrous library), bringing his mad hero into contact with the cruel reality that surrounds him, Cervantes severely judges not only him, but also the surrounding his social injustice. As the action develops, the parody becomes more complicated, it ceases to be purely bookish, its accusatory character becomes more and more obvious. She continues to play the role of a connecting link necessary to maintain the unity of action. But since the satirical orientation of the novel could involve the author in a conflict with the Inquisition, all the more terrible for him because he was almost excommunicated during his service in the quartermaster office, Cervantes was later forced to resort to disguise: he introduces into the novel “Arabic Lamanch historian "Sid Ahmet Ben-inhali and ascribes to him some of his satirical statements. In this case, Cervantes turned out to be much more far-sighted than his hero: Don Quixote, in the wonderful expression of Karl Marx, "had to pay dearly for his mistake when he imagined that itinerant chivalry is equally compatible with all economic forms of society." Having experienced the contradiction between the dream of the Golden Age and the Spanish reality and remembering that in 1559 Philip II arranged a public burning of "heretics" unprecedented in its size (the Inquisition brought under this concept not only Moriscos and Jews, but also all dissidents), Cervantes had to be extra careful.

Knight and his squire. It was not by chance that Cervantes took them from the ranks of the Spanish seedy nobility - the hidalgia and landless peasantry, who in his time constituted the bulk of the population. Bearing a great social burden, the images of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza provided Cervantes with exceptional opportunities in their breadth and depth. In the mouth of the knight, hiding behind his madness, Cervantes put all the lessons of moral perfection, political wisdom and honesty that he wanted to teach his contemporaries.

The second part of the novel was written by Cervantes ten years later than the first. Between the two parts are other works by Cervantes, namely: "Instructive Novels" (1613) and "Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes, which compiled a collection of 1615.

The works written by him in the first years after returning home from Algerian captivity are also published: the shepherd's novel "Galatea" and up to thirty dramatic works, "comedies", most of which have not reached us.

Information about the drama of Cervantes of the "Seville" period of his work is limited to what Cervantes himself says about his early dramas in the preface to the collection "Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes", published by him in 1615. He reports that his "Algerian Morals", as well as "The Destruction of Numancia" and "The Battle of the Sea" were performed in the theaters of Madrid, and acknowledges himself as the author of twenty or thirty plays written by him at that time. The Battle at Sea, which has not come down to us, as far as we can guess from the title of the play, glorified the famous victory at Lepanto, which played such a fatal role in the life of Cervantes.

In 1614, in the midst of Cervantes' work on it, a fake continuation of the novel appears, penned by an anonymous writer hiding under the pseudonym "Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda." The Prologue to "False Quixote" contained rude attacks against Cervantes personally, and its content demonstrated a complete misunderstanding by the author of the forgery of the entire complexity of the original concept. The "False Quixote" contains a number of episodes that coincide in plot with episodes from the second part of Cervantes' novel. The researchers' dispute over the priority of Cervantes or the anonymous author cannot be finally resolved. Most likely, Cervantes specifically included in the second part of Don Quixote revised episodes from Avellaneda's work in order to once again demonstrate his ability to transform artistically insignificant texts into art.

It remains unclear whether Cervantes knew or did not know the real name of the author of the forgery. It is generally accepted that he did not know. But this is unlikely. The fake Don Quixote was greeted by Cervantes with great and legitimate irritation and had a detrimental effect on his health. And yet Cervantes limited himself to only an angry rebuke to his mysterious enemy. The forged "Don Quixote", despite its indisputable literary character and the glibness of the pen that wrote it, did not have much success and passed, in general, unnoticed.

The second part of Don Quixote's Cunning Caballero was published in 1615 in Madrid in the same printing house as Don Quixote in 1605. For the first time, both parts of Don Quixote were published under the same cover in 1637.

In the interval between the publication of the first and second parts of Don Quixote, in 1613, the second most literary work by Cervantes was published, namely his Edifying Novels. Translated shortly after their appearance into French, English, Italian and Dutch, the novellas served as the source for a number of stage alterations. The warm welcome given by the Spanish writers to the "Edifying Novels" is an indisputable recognition of the validity of Cervantes' words that "he was the first to write novels in Castilian, for all the numerous short stories published in Spain were translated from foreign languages."

The final period in the life of Cervantes, very rich in creativity, took place mainly in Madrid, where Cervantes moved after the proclamation of this city as the capital of the kingdom in 1606.

In Madrid, he lived in poor neighborhoods, the financial situation of his family did not get any easier. But without improving the position of Cervantes, the huge success of his novel prompted the writer to continue his literary work.

These years for him were overshadowed by the death of both of his sisters, who were tonsured as a nun before their death, and by the second marriage of his daughter Isaveli de Saavedra, which increased the writer's material constraint in connection with the groom's requirement to guarantee the dowry. The example of the sisters of Cervantes was followed by his wife, who also took monastic vows. Yes, and Cervantes himself joined the Brotherhood of Slaves of the Holy Communion in 1609, whose members were not only high-ranking persons, but also a number of major Spanish writers (including Lope de Vega and Quevedo). Later, in 1613, Cervantes became a tertiary (a member of the semi-monastic religious Brotherhood of the laity) of the Franciscan order and, on the eve of his death, took "full dedication".

Cervantes died of heart disease on April 23, 1616. He was buried in the monastery indicated by him at the expense of the charitable funds of the Brotherhood.

"Forgive, joy! Forgive, fun! Forgive, funny friends! I am dying in the hope of a quick and joyful meeting in the other world" - with these words the genius Spaniard addressed his readers in the preface to his latest creation.

Several centuries later, Cervantes is alive in the memory of people, just as his immortal heroes - a knight and squire, still wandering in search of goodness, justice and beauty across the vast plains of their homeland - are still alive.

For the first time, a monument to the outstanding writer was erected in Madrid in 1835.

Miguel was born on September 29, 1547 in a ruined noble family, in the Spanish town of Alcala de Henares. There is no reliable information about the writer's childhood and adolescence.

At the age of 23, Cervantes joined the Spanish Marine Corps. During one of the battles he was seriously wounded: a bullet pierced the forearm of a young soldier, permanently immobilizing his left arm.

Having restored his health in the hospital, Miguel returned to work. He had the opportunity to participate in sea expeditions and visit many overseas countries. During another voyage in 1575, he was captured by the Algerian pirates, who demanded a large ransom for him. Cervantes spent five years in captivity, making several attempts to escape. However, each time the fugitive was caught and severely punished.

The long-awaited release came with the Christian missionaries, and Miguel returned to the service.

Creation

Cervantes realized his true vocation at a fairly mature age. His first novel, Galatea, was written in 1585. Like several dramatic plays that followed him, he was unsuccessful.

However, even in the most difficult times, when the money earned was barely enough to feed, Miguel did not stop writing, drawing inspiration from his wandering life.

The muse took pity on the persistent writer only in 1604, when he wrote the first part of his imperishable novel "The cunning hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha". The book immediately aroused keen interest among readers not only in their native Spain, but also in other countries.

Unfortunately, the publication of the novel did not bring the long-awaited financial stability to Cervantes, but he did not give up. Soon he published a sequel to the "heroic" exploits of the hidalgo, as well as several other works.

Personal life

Miguel's wife was the noblewoman Catalina Palacios de Salazar. According to a short biography of Cervantes, this marriage was childless, but the writer had one illegitimate daughter, whom he recognized - Isabella de Cervantes.

Death

• While serving in the Marine Corps, Cervantes established himself as a brave soldier. He took part in battles even during a strong fever, not wanting to let down his comrades and lie down on the deck of the ship.
• Unfortunately for Miguel, during his capture, a letter of recommendation was found with him, which is why the Algerian pirates decided that they had gotten an influential person. As a result, the ransom amount was increased several times, and the writer's widowed mother had to sell all her modest property in order to free her son from captivity.
• Cervantes' first fee was three silver spoons, which he received in a poetry competition.
• At the end of his life, Miguel de Cervantes completely revised his position in life, and literally a few days before his death he cut his hair as a monk.
• For a long time, no one knew the exact burial place of the outstanding Spanish writer. Only in 2015, archaeologists managed to discover his remains, which were solemnly reburied in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Madrid.

Spanish literature

Saavedra Miguel Cervantes

Biography

Cervantes Saavedra, Miguel de (1547-1616), Spanish writer. Born in Alcala de Henares (Prov. Madrid). His father, Rodrigo de Cervantes, was a humble surgeon, and a large family constantly lived in poverty, which did not leave the future writer throughout his sorrowful life. Very little is known about his childhood, other than that he was baptized on October 9, 1547; the next documentary evidence about him, about twenty years later, calls him the author of a sonnet addressed to Queen Isabella of Valois, third wife of Philip II; shortly thereafter, while studying at the City College of Madrid, he is mentioned in connection with several poems on the death of the Queen (3 October 1568).

Cervantes studied, probably in fits and starts, and it did not come to an academic degree. Not finding a livelihood in Spain, he went to Italy and in 1570 decided to serve in the service of Cardinal J. Aquaviva. In 1571 he was a soldier of a naval expedition, which the Spanish king, pope and seigneur of Venice were preparing against the Turks. Cervantes fought bravely at Lepanto (7 October 1571); one of the wounds he received crippled his hand. He went to Sicily to recover and remained in southern Italy until 1575, when he decided to return to Spain, hoping to be rewarded with the post of captain in the army. On September 26, 1575, the ship on which he sailed was captured by Turkish pirates. Cervantes was taken to Algeria, where he stayed until September 19, 1580. In the end, Trinitarian monks bought him with money collected by the Cervantes family. He counted on a decent reward upon returning home, but his hopes were not justified.

In 1584, 37-year-old Cervantes married in Esquivias (province of Toledo) to 19-year-old Catalina de Palacios. But family life, like everything with Cervantes, went by fits and starts, he spent many years away from his wife; Isabel de Saavedra, his only child, was born of an extramarital affair.

In 1585, Cervantes became commissioner for the purchase of wheat, barley and olive oil in Andalusia for the "Invincible Armada" of Philip II. This unremarkable job was also thankless and dangerous. On two occasions, Cervantes had to requisition wheat that belonged to the clergy, and although he followed the king's orders, he was excommunicated. In addition to his misfortunes, he was put on trial, and then in prison, as violations were found in his reports. Another disappointment came with an unsuccessful petition for office in the American colonies of Spain in 1590.

It is believed that during one of his imprisonments (1592, 1597 or 1602) Cervantes began his immortal work. However, in 1602 the judges and courts stopped prosecuting him about the alleged debt to the crown, and in 1604 he moved to Valladolid, where the king was at the time. From 1608 he lived permanently in Madrid and devoted himself entirely to writing and publishing books. In the last years of his life, he had a livelihood mainly thanks to pensions from the Count of Lemos and the Archbishop of Toledo. Died Cervantes in Madrid on April 23, 1616.

The above facts give only a fragmentary and approximate idea of ​​the life of Cervantes, but, in the end, the largest events in it were the works that brought him immortality. Sixteen years after the publication of school poems, the First Part of Galatea (La primera parte de la Galatea, 1585) appeared, a pastoral novel in the spirit of Diana H. Montemayor (1559). Its content is made up of the vicissitudes of love of idealized shepherds and shepherdesses. In Galatea, prose alternates with poetry; here there are no main characters, no unity of action, the episodes are connected in the most simple way: the shepherds meet each other and talk about their joys and sorrows. The action unfolds against the background of conventional pictures of nature - these are unchanging forests, springs, clear streams and an eternal spring that allows you to live in the bosom of nature. Here the idea of ​​divine grace, sanctifying the souls of the elect, is humanized, and love is likened to a deity that the lover worships and which strengthens his faith and will to live. Faith, born of human desires, was thus equated with religious beliefs, which probably explains the constant attacks by Catholic moralists on the pastoral novel, which flourished and died out in the second half of the 16th century. Galatea is undeservedly forgotten, because already in this first significant work, the concept of life and the world, characteristic of the author Don Quixote, was outlined. Cervantes has repeatedly promised to release the second part, but the sequel never appeared. In 1605, the first part of El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha (El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quixote de la Mancha) was published, in 1615 the second part appeared. In 1613, Las novelas exemplares were published; in 1614 the Journey to Parnas (Viaje del Parnaso) was printed; in 1615 - Eight comedies and eight interludes (Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses nuevos). The wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda (Los trabajos de Persiles y Segismunda) were published posthumously in 1617. Cervantes also mentions the names of several works that have not reached us - the second part of Galatea, Week in the Garden (Las semanas del jardn), Deception of the eye (El engao los ojos) and others. The edifying novellas unite twelve stories, and the edification put out in the title (otherwise, their “exemplary” character) is associated with the “morality” contained in each story. Four of them - El Amante liberal, Senora Cornelia (La Seora Cornelia), Two girls (Las dos donzellas) and English Spanish woman (La Espaola inglesa) - share a common theme, traditional for the Byzantine novel: a pair of lovers separated unfortunate and capricious circumstances, in the end he is reunited and finds the long-awaited happiness. The heroines are almost all perfectly beautiful and highly moral; they and their beloved are capable of the greatest sacrifices and with all their souls are drawn to the moral and aristocratic ideal that illuminates their lives. Another group of "edifying" novellas is formed by The Power of Blood (La fuerza de la sangre), The Noble Dishwasher (La ilustre fregona), The Gypsy Girl (La Gitanilla) and The Jealous Extremadurets (El celoso estremeo). The first three offer stories of love and adventure with a happy ending, while the fourth ends tragically. Rinconete y Cortadillo, El casamiento engaoso, El licenciado vidriera and Conversation between two dogs put more emphasis on the characters of the characters in them than on the action - this is the last group of short stories. Rinconete and Cortadillo is one of Cervantes' most charming works. Two young vagabonds are associated with a fraternity of thieves. The comedy of the solemn ceremony of this gang of thugs is emphasized by Cervantes' dry-humorous tone. Among his dramatic works, the Siege of Numancia (La Numancia) stands out - a description of the heroic resistance of the Iberian city during the conquest of Spain by the Romans in the 2nd century. BC. - and funny sideshows such as the Divorce Judge (El Juez de los divorcios) and the Theater of Miracles (El retablo de las maravillas). Cervantes' greatest work is Don Quixote's one-of-a-kind book. In short, its content boils down to the fact that after reading books about chivalry, the hidalgo Alonso Quihana believed that everything in them was true, and he himself decided to become an itinerant knight. He takes the name of Don Quixote of La Mancha and, accompanied by the peasant Sancho Panza, who serves as his squire, sets out in search of adventure.

Cervantes Saavedra Miguel de was born to a poor Spanish surgeon in 1547. He lived with his large family in the province of Madrid, Alcala de Henares. They baptized Cervantes on October 9, 1547. Due to the poverty of the family, the guy studied in fits and starts. Being broke, he moved to Italy in 1570 and went to serve. From 1570 he entered the ranks of the navy until October 7, 1571, when he was discharged due to an arm injury he received in the battles. He goes to Italy, where he lives until 1575. He is captured by pirates on September 26, 1575, when he sailed to Spain, which took Cervantes to Algeria until 1580 on September 19. Miguel meets Esquivias in the province of Toledo, whom he marries in 1584. Their family life did not work out, Cervantes was often not around, he even had an illegitimate daughter, Isabel de Saavedra. From 1585, Miguel went to work as a commissioner for the purchase of provisions for the army of Philip II, but soon ended up in prison due to violations in his reports. While imprisoned, Cervantes begins to write. He connects prose and poetry, taking as a basis the relationship between a shepherd and a shepherdess. The "First Part of Galatea" is born in 1585. In 1604 he was released, and Miguel moved to Valladolid, and in 1608 to permanent residence in Madrid. He diligently begins to study literature. From under his pen, grandiose masterpieces come out. In 1605 "Don Quixote" was published, in 1613 - "Educational short stories", "Journey to Parnassus" in 1614, and in 1615 the author released the sequel to "Don Quixote", the second part, and "Eight Comedies and Eight Interludes". Cervantes set about writing another book - "The Wanderings of Persiles and Sikhismunda", which he did not manage to print during his lifetime. It was published in 1617.

The poet became the author of many editions and books, which, of course, did not find such fame as Don Quixote, but nevertheless were published: The Generous Admirer, The English Spaniard, The Two Maidens and Senora Cornelia and many others ...

Miguel de Servantes 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 (Prov. Madrid). His father, Hidalgo Rodrigo de Cervantes (the origin of Cervantes' second surname - "Saavedra", which is on the titles of his books, is not established), was a modest surgeon, a nobleman by blood, his mother - 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, a version about the Jewish origin of Cervantes is widespread, which influenced his work, probably his mother, descended from a family of baptized Jews.
The Cervantes family often moved from city to city, so the future writer could not receive a formal education. In 1566-1569, Miguel studied at the Madrid city school with the famous humanist grammar Juan Lopez de Hoyos, a follower of Erasmus of Rotterdam.
In literature, Miguel made his debut 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 Aquaviva, and then enlisted as a soldier. On October 7, 1571, he took part in the naval battle of Lepanto, was wounded in the forearm (his left hand remained inactive for life).
Miguel Cervantes took part 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 his capture) from Juan of Austria, commander-in-chief of the Spanish army in Italy, 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 each time he failed, only by a miracle he was 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 the pastoral novel La Galatea. At the same time, in Madrid theaters, his plays are beginning to be staged, to this day, unfortunately, in the overwhelming majority have not survived. From the early dramatic experiments of Cervantes, the tragedy "Numancia" and the "comedy" "Algerian customs" have survived.
Two years later, he moved from the capital to Andalusia, where for ten years he served first as a supplier of the Great Armada, and then as a tax collector. For a financial shortage in 1597 (In 1597 he was imprisoned in a Seville prison for seven months on charges of embezzling state money (the bank in which Cervantes kept the collected taxes collapsed) was imprisoned in a Seville prison, where he began to write a novel " 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 came to Madrid, where he spent the last nine years of his life. In 1613 he published the collection Novelas ejemplares, and in 1615 the second part of Don Quixote. In 1614, at the height of Cervantes' work on it, a fake continuation of the novel appeared, penned by an anonymous writer hiding under the pseudonym "Alonso Fernandez de Avellaneda." The Prologue to "Pseudo Quixote" contained rude attacks against Cervantes personally, and its content demonstrated a complete lack of understanding by the author (or authors?) Of the forgery of the entire complexity of the original concept. The "False Quixote" contains a number of episodes that coincide in plot with episodes from the second part of Cervantes' novel. The researchers' dispute over the priority of Cervantes or the anonymous author cannot be finally resolved. Most likely, Miguel Cervantes specifically included in the second part of Don Quixote revised episodes from Avellaneda's work to once again demonstrate his ability to turn artistically insignificant texts into art (similar to his treatment of chivalrous epics).
"The second part of the ingenious caballero of Don Quixote of La Mancha" was published in 1615 in Madrid in the same printing house as "Don Quixote" of the 1605 edition. For the first time, both parts of Don Quixote were published under the same cover in 1637.
His last book "The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda" ("Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda"), a love-adventure novel in the style of the antique novel "Ethiopica" Cervantes finished just three days before his death, which followed on April 23, 1616; this book was published by the widow of the writer in 1617.
A few days before his death, he was tonsured 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 Saavedre, 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 NI Oznobishin, who translated the novel "Cornelia" in 1761.

Miguel de Servantes Saavedra(Spanish. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ; presumably September 29, Alcala de Henares - April 22, 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".

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Biography

early years

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 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 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.

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 fled from justice, or escaped a royal arrest warrant for injuring 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

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.

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 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. : 236 The letters of recommendation found at Cervantes' entailed an increase in the amount of the required ransom. In Algerian captivity, Cervantes spent 5 years (-), 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.

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 Arnautriomas.

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"To ransom her son.

Service in Seville

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

Intention to go to America

Miguel de Cervantes. Instructive novellas. Translated from Spanish by B. Krzhevsky. Moscow. Publishing house "Khudozhestvennaya literatura". 1983

Personal life

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”.

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 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."

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.

Memory

• In honor of the heroine of Cervantes's short story "The Gypsy" is named the asteroid (529) Preziosa, discovered in 1904 (according to another version, it was named after the play by Pius Alexander Wolf, written in 1810).
• The asteroids (571) Dulcinea (discovered in 1905) and (3552) Don Quixote (opened 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 produced the Five Immortal Spaniards series, which included Cervantes, El Cid, El Greco, Velazquez and Don Quixote.
• In 1966, a postage stamp of the USSR was issued, dedicated to Cervantes.
• 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 named "79144 Cervantes".
• Plaza de España in Madrid is decorated with a sculptural composition, the central figure of which is Cervantes and his most famous heroes.
• The monument to Miguel Cervantes was erected in Moscow in the Friendship Park.
• An Argentine destroyer of the Churruka class is named in honor of Cervantes.
• A monument to Cervantes was erected in the Spanish city of Toledo.
• A monument to Cervantes was 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.