All books by Miguel Cervantes. Biography of Miguel Cervantes

early years

Church where Cervantes was baptized, Alcala de Henares

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

Some biographers claim that Cervantes studied at the University of Salamanca, but there is no 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 in Jerusalem, Cervantes’ mother came from a family of baptized Jews. Cervantes's father was a nobleman, but his hometown of Alcala de Henares is the home of his ancestors, which is located in the center of the juderia, that is, the Jewish quarter. Cervantes' house is located in the former Jewish part of the city.

Activities of the writer in Italy

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

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

By 1570, Cervantes was enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish Marine Regiment located in Naples. He remained there about a year before entering active service. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed aboard the Marquis, part of the Holy League galley fleet that defeated the Ottoman flotilla at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras on 7 October. Despite the fact that Cervantes was sick with a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to go into battle. According to eyewitnesses, he said: “I prefer, even when sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier ... rather than hide under the protection of the deck.” He fought bravely on board the ship and received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the forearm. The last wound deprived his left arm of 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 was thinking about the success of the first part of “Don Quixote”). Cervantes always recalled his participation in this battle with pride: 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 means of subsistence, was forced to steal. Allegedly, it was for stealing that he was deprived of his hand, after which he had to leave for Italy. However, this version is not credible - if only because at that time thieves’ hands were no longer cut off, as they were sent to the galleys, where both hands were required.

After the Battle of Lepanto, Miguel Cervantes remained in 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 took part in expeditions to Corfu and Navarino, and witnessed the capture of Tunis and La Goulette by the Turks in 1574. In addition, Cervantes was in Portugal, and also carried out trips on duty to Oran (1580s); served in Seville.

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

In Algerian captivity

In September 1575, Miguel Cervantes and his brother Rodrigo were returning from Naples to Barcelona aboard the galley "The Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the approach to the Catalan coast, the galley was attacked by Algerian corsairs. The attackers were resisted, as a result of which many members of the Sun's crew were killed, and the rest were captured and taken to Algeria. The letters of recommendation discovered on Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. Cervantes spent 5 years in Algerian captivity (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity he was often subjected to various tortures.

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

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

A petition from Miguel's mother in 1580 reported that she requested "permission to export 2,000 ducats in goods from the kingdom of Valencia" 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 ransom him from captivity. On October 22, a monk from the Order of the Holy Trinity (Trinitarians), Juan Gil “Liberator of Captives,” drew up a report based on this notarial act confirming Cervantes’ services to the king.

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 Oran

By order of the king, Miguel made a trip to Oran in the 1590s.

Service in Seville

In Seville he dealt with the affairs of the Spanish fleet on the orders of Antonio de Guevara.

Intention to travel to America

On May 21, 1590, in Madrid, Miguel submits a petition to the Council of the Indies to grant him a vacant position in the American colonies, in particular in the “Revision Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Soconusco in Guatemala, or Accountant of the Galleys of Cartagena, or 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. The President of the Council of the Indies on June 6, 1590 left a note on the petition that the submitter “deserves to be given some service and can be trusted.”

Cervantes about himself

In the prologue of the Edificatory Novels in 1613, Miguel de Cervantes wrote:

Under the portrait, my friend could write: “The man you see here has an oval face, brown hair, an open and large forehead, a cheerful look and a humpbacked, although correct, nose; with a silver beard, which twenty years ago was still golden; long mustache, small mouth; with teeth that are not very sparse, but not dense either, because he has only six of them, and, moreover, very unsightly and poorly spaced, because there is no correspondence between them; ordinary height - neither big nor small; with a good complexion, rather light than dark; slightly stooped and heavy on his feet, - 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 pass from hand to hand distorted, and sometimes without the name of the author. His colloquial name is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He served as a soldier for many 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, his arm was crippled by a shot from an arquebus, and although this injury seems ugly to others, in his eyes it is beautiful, for he received it in one of the most famous battles that were known in past centuries and which can happen in future, fighting under the victorious banners of the son of the “Thunderstorm of Wars” - Charles the Fifth of blessed memory.”

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

Personal life

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

Character

The best of Cervantes’ biographers, Chals, characterized him as follows: “The poet, flighty and dreamy, lacked everyday skill, and he did not benefit from either his military campaigns or his works. It was a disinterested soul, incapable of gaining fame or counting on success, alternately enchanted or indignant, irresistibly given over 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 carefree cheerful... From the analysis of his life he emerges with honor, full of generous and noble activity, an amazing and naive prophet, heroic in his disasters and kind in his genius.”

Literary activity

Miguel's literary activity 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 that enjoyed little success.

To earn his daily bread, the future author of Don Quixote enters the quartermaster service; he is entrusted with purchasing provisions for the “Invincible Armada”, then he is appointed as a collector of arrears. In fulfilling these duties, he suffers great failures. Having entrusted government money to a banker who ran away with it, Cervantes went to prison in 1597 on charges of embezzlement. Five years later he was destined to be imprisoned again on charges of monetary abuse. His life in those years was a whole chain of severe hardships, hardships and disasters.

In the midst of all this, he does not stop his writing activity, not yet publishing anything. His wanderings prepared material for his future work, serving as a means for studying Spanish life in its various manifestations.

From 1598 to 1603 there is almost no news about the life of Cervantes. In 1603, he appeared in Valladolid, where he was engaged in small private affairs, giving him a meager income, and in 1604, the first part of the novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” was published, which had enormous success in Spain (the first edition was sold out in a few weeks publication and in the same year 4 others) and abroad (translations into many languages). However, it did not improve the author’s financial situation in the least, but only strengthened the hostile attitude towards him, expressed in ridicule, slander, and persecution.

From then on, until his death, Cervantes’s literary activity did not stop: between 1604 and 1616, the second part of Don Quixote, all the short stories, many dramatic works, the poem “Journey to Parnassus” appeared, and the novel “Journey to Parnassus” was written, published after the author’s death. Persiles and Sikhismunda."

Almost on his deathbed, Cervantes did not stop working; a few days before his death, he took monastic vows. On April 22, 1616, his life ended (he died of dropsy), which the bearer himself in his philosophical humor called “long indiscretion” and, leaving which, he “carried away on his shoulders a stone with an inscription that read the destruction of his hopes.” However, according to the customs of that time, the date of his death was recorded as the date of his funeral - April 23. Because of this, it is sometimes said that the date of Cervantes’s death coincides with the date of death of another great writer - William Shakespeare, but in fact Cervantes died 11 days earlier (since, at that time, the Gregorian calendar was in force in Spain, and the Julian in England). April 23, 1616 is sometimes considered the end of the Renaissance.

Heritage

Cervantes died in Madrid, where he had moved from Valladolid shortly before his death. The irony of fate followed the great humorist beyond 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. In June of the same year they were reburied.

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

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

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

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

Life of Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) was born in early October 1547 in Alcala de Henares. His parents were poor, but gave him a good upbringing. Young Cervantes studied first in his hometown, then in Madrid and Salamanca, and attracted the attention of teachers with his curiosity and poetic talent. In the preface to "Voyage to Parnassus" he says: "From childhood I have loved the sweet art of beautiful poetry." Poverty forced him to seek his fortune abroad. Cardinal Acquaviva, who came to Madrid on behalf of the pope, took him into his service. Through Catalonia and Provence, Cervantes went with Acquaviva to Rome, remained there for some time in his service, and then entered the Spanish army, which was supposed to sail from Italy to the war with the Turks. He fought bravely in the famous naval Battle of Lepanto, lost his left hand there, which he often mentions with pride in his works. In his short story “Persiles and Sigismunda” he says that the best warriors are those people who move to the battlefield from the field of science: whoever from a scientist became a warrior has always been a brave soldier.

Before recovering from his wound, Cervantes lived in Messina, then again went under the command of Marcantonio Colonna to the war with the Turks and took part in the assault on Navarino. After that he served on the Spanish squadron, which sailed under the command of Don Juan to Tunisia, then remained a year in one of the detachments garrisoned in Sicily and Naples. In 1575 he went to Spain with a letter of recommendation from Don Juan to the king. But the ship on which he sailed was captured by corsairs and taken to Algeria. There Cervantes spent five years as a slave to harsh masters. Several times he and other Spaniards taken into slavery tried to escape, and in these attempts he showed unshakable courage and high nobility. But they all ended unsuccessfully, and each time Cervantes’s position became worse; he was put in chains and taken for interrogation. The Muslim mob scolded and beat him; After interrogation, he was taken to prison. Memories of what he experienced during the years of military service and slavery are quite common in the works of Cervantes. “Persiles and Sigismund” reflects the impressions of his wanderings in Spain, Portugal, Italy; in Don Quixote, the episode recounted in the story about the captive depicts his life in slavery.

Portrait of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. 1600

Cervantes' mother, who was already a widow at that time, sacrificed her small property to ransom her son, and he (in 1580) returned to his homeland. His fellow slaves were sad when they parted with him, because he was their adviser and comforter. Having neither money nor patrons, he did not find any other way to live except for entering military service again. Cervantes was in the Spanish army, went to Lisbon, participated in the expedition that sailed to conquer the Azores; he always had a love for Portugal.

Returning to Spain, he chose poetry as his main occupation; Cervantes wrote from his youth, even in Algerian dungeons, but only now literary activity became his profession. Under the influence of Montemayor and Gil Polo's Diana, he wrote the shepherd's novel Galatea and dedicated this “first fruit of his weak mind” to the son of that Colonna, under whose command he fought in the East. This work is rich in memories from the life of the author and inserts of poems in Spanish and Italian tastes; but it had little success. In Don Quixote, when the barber reads the title of this book, the priest says: “Cervantes has been my friend for a long time, and I know that he is more skilled in enduring troubles than in writing poetry.” The novel remained unfinished; but it is closely related to the life of the author. Under the name Galatea is depicted, it is believed, the girl whom Cervantes loved and whom he married soon after (in 1584). She was from a good family who lived in Esquivias (near Madrid) and always remained a loving wife. But she had no dowry, so Cervantes and she endured poverty.

He began to write for the theater, hoping to earn a living through this; wrote, as we know from him, 20 or 30 plays. But only two of them have reached us; Even the comedy “Lost,” which he called his best drama in “Journey to Parnassus,” has not survived. Those two plays that have come down to us were found and published only two hundred years after his death. One of them, “Life in Algeria” (El trato de Argel), is borrowed from the author’s personal life; another depicting death of Numantia, imbued with a patriotic feeling; both have good pathetic scenes, but overall neither has artistic merit. Cervantes could not be a rival to Lope de Vega.

Oppressed by poverty, he left for Seville, where he received a position with a small salary in the financial department. He applied for a position in America, but to no avail. Cervantes lived in Seville for ten years, and we have little information about him during these years. He probably still suffered from poverty, because the income from his position as commissary of provisions for the Indian Navy was meager and uncertain, and besides himself and his wife he had to support his sister, who gave her small share of her father's inheritance to buy him out of African slavery. He wrote several sonnets and other poems at this time: perhaps it was then that he wrote the short stories “The Spanish Flu in England” and “Rinconet and Cortadilla.” But if this is so, he still wrote very little in these ten years. But he, in all likelihood, made many observations on the characters of people in Seville, the center of relations between Spain and America; adventurers came there from all over Western Europe, and one could hear from them about many different adventures. At the same time, Cervantes studied Andalusian customs, descriptions of which are found in his following works. Living with the cheerful citizens of Seville, who loved jokes, probably contributed to the development of playfulness in his works. At the beginning of the 17th century we find Cervantes living in Valladolid, where the court was then seated. It seems he continued to be needy. The sources of his income were business assignments from private people and literary work. One day, a night duel took place near his house, in which one of the courtiers fighting with each other was killed. Cervantes was interrogated at the trial in this case, and he spent some time under arrest as a suspect of some kind of complicity or concealment of information about the course of the quarrel.

The first part of Don Quixote

At this time he began to write a great novel, which gave immortality to his name. In 1605, the first part of Don Quixote was published in Madrid, and the public liked it so much that in the same year several new editions of it were published in Madrid and some provincial cities. (See articles by Cervantes “Don Quixote” - summary and analysis, Image of Don Quixote, Image of Sancho Panza.) Over the next five years, 11 more editions were published, and translations into other Western languages appeared during Cervantes’s lifetime. But, despite the brilliant success of Don Quixote, Cervantes spent the last ten years of his life in poverty, although fame brought him the patronage of Count Lemos and the Archbishop of Toledo. Lope de Vega, who was then the subject of admiration for the Spanish public, apparently looked with contempt at the poor Cervantes, although he did not stand on ceremony in borrowing much from his dramatic works. Cervantes was probably offended by Lope de Vega's arrogance; but due to his good nature and nobility, he never expressed hostility towards him. Lope de Vega, for his part, was careful not to speak disrespectfully about him. When they mention one another, they always express themselves kindly, although coldly.

"Edifying Novels" by Cervantes

In 1613, Cervantes published his Edifying Novellas, the content of which, as he himself says, was borrowed from his own memoirs. They are less exciting than the Decameron, but are rich in beautiful descriptions of manners and nature; in terms of the liveliness of these images, Cervantes is superior to all Spanish writers. The short story “The Madrid Gypsy,” the content of which served as material for the libretto of Weber’s famous opera Preziosa, depicts with charming vividness the life of nobles and common people. There are many songs inserted in this novella; "The Generous Lover" recreates Cervantes' impressions of Algerian slavery; The action of this novella is moved to Cyprus. “Rinconet and Cortadilla” is a series of paintings from the life of wandering people in southern Spain. This is also the content of “A Conversation between Two Dogs,” a short story representing the Spanish combination of fraudulent tricks with the zealous performance of religious rites. “The Spanish Flu in England” is a story about a Spanish girl captured by the British during the capture and plunder of Cadiz by Admiral Howard and the Earl Essex. These short stories are exactly the same as “The Jealous Extremadure.” “The Power of Blood,” “The False Marriage,” “Lucentiate Vidriera,” and all the other stories in Cervantes’s collection excellently depict folk life in Andalusia. They were the best Spanish novels and are still unrivaled in Spanish literature.

Poems, dramas and interludes by Cervantes

After the collection of short stories, Cervantes published “Journey to Parnassus,” a satirical poem written in terzas; its content is an assessment of the works of modern poets. Cervantes speaks about himself with cheerful humor and judges his works very correctly. Mercury, expressing a judgment about him, rightly mentions that the merit of his dramas and short stories was not sufficiently appreciated by the public. Cervantes wanted to prove to her that it was in vain that she remained indifferent to his previous plays, being addicted exclusively to Lope de Vega; he has now published eight new dramas and eight interludes. Almost all dramas have three acts (Jornadas), each with many characters, among them there is certainly a jester or some other funny man. Particularly good are “Life in Algeria”, “The Brave Spaniard”, “Sultana”, “The Happy Villain” (repenting of those bad deeds), “Labyrinth of Love”, they have many fascinating scenes. Sideshows are small funny plays performed during intermissions. The best of them are “The Attentive Guard” and “The Jealous Old Man” (a remake of the short story “The Jealous Extremadure”), “Salamanca Cave”; but all the other interludes are very funny and realistic. But for all the merits of his plays, Cervantes did not gain fame among his contemporaries as a playwright.

The second part of Don Quixote

In the preface to the collection of short stories, Cervantes says that he is publishing the second part of Don Quixote; but while he was writing it, a book was published entitled “The Second Part of Don Quixote, Knight of La Mancha.” Its author hid under the pseudonym Alonso Fernando de Avellaneda. Avellaneda's book has good passages, but it is far inferior in merit to Cervantes's novel. In the preface, Avellaneda rudely mocks Cervantes, speaks with vulgar ridicule about his old age and poverty, and even laughs at the wounds he received in the war with the infidels. The appearance of Avellaneda's book forced Cervantes to speed up the final finishing of the second part of his novel. He published it in 1615. Remarks about Avellanda's book made by Sancho Panza indicate that Cervantes was indignant at this forgery. The second part of Don Quixote, written by a sick old man, is equal in the freshness and strength of the brilliant creativity of the first. The old man who wrote this story, in which there is so much jokes and gaiety, suffered from illness and poverty, and felt the proximity of death.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Monument in Plaza de España in Madrid, 1930

The meaning of “Don Quixote” in world literature

More than two and a half centuries have passed since the appearance of Cervantes's Don Quixote, and it still remains one of the favorite books of all civilized nations; There is hardly another novel that has received such strong and widespread popularity. Morals have completely changed since that time, but Don Quixote still retains the interest of living modernity. This is because, under the form of a joke, it contains a picture of the eternal passions of the human heart and eternal wisdom. To understand the form of this book, we must remember that the ideas of chivalry, long dead in other countries, still retained vitality in Spain during the time of Cervantes, that conquests in the New World supported the Spaniards' penchant for fantastic aspirations, that novels about the Amadis were still the favorite reading of the Spaniards that not only the Spaniards, but also other peoples still believed the tales of Eldorado and the source that gives eternal youth. Novels about Amadis and other heroes fighting giants and evil wizards were so loved in Spain that Kings Charles V and Philip II considered it necessary to ban these books. Castilian Cortes(parliament) in 1555 decided that the Amadis and similar “false books, which boys and girls study, considering the absurdities told in them to be true, so that they speak and write in the style of these books,” should be destroyed. Don Quixote was needed to stop this medieval fantasy. And indeed he stopped it. No new novels in the Amadis style appeared after him. The previous ones were still being reprinted, but that too soon ended.

"The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda" by Cervantes

Soon after the second part of Don Quixote, Cervantes finished his novel The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda. In the dedication of this book to Count Lemos, Cervantes says that he expects an imminent death, and the humorous preface ends with the words: “Farewell jokes, goodbye cheerful friends; I feel like I'm dying; and my only desire is to happily meet you in another life.” Four days after he wrote these words, he died, on April 23, 1616, at the age of 69. From the figure of the day and month it appears to be the same day on which Shakespeare died; but the English at that time still adhered to the old style, and in Spain a new one had already been introduced. In the 17th century, the difference in styles was 10 days; So, the English poet died ten days later than the Spanish one.

“The Wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda” - a series of adventures taking place in different countries and at sea; The geography and history in this novel is a mixture of fantasy and truth. The book was published after the author's death (in 1517). “The wanderings of Persiles and Sigismunda,” says literary critic Rosenkrantz, “are a series of stories about the amazing adventures of these individuals. Persiles, second son of the King of Iceland; Sigismunda is the only daughter and heir of the Queen of Friesland. She was betrothed to Persile's brother Maximin, a rude man. The meek, noble beauty could not please him; she fell in love with Persiles. They run away, want to go to Rome, to beg the pope to release Sigismunda from the promise she made to her previous groom. Periles calls himself Periander, Sigismund - Aristela, so that the pursuit does not find them by their true names. They pretend to be brother and sister; their true names and relationships are revealed to the reader only at the end of the book. On the way to Rome they suffer all sorts of troubles, end up in different lands; more than once savages take them prisoner and want to devour them; villains are trying to kill or poison. They are shipwrecked several times, many times fate separates them. But the kidnappers quarrel among themselves over their possession, fight and die. Finally, the lovers reach Rome and receive permission from the pope to marry. The fabulous geography and fantastic history that served as the setting for the adventures of Persiles and Sigismunda gave reason to reproach Cervantes for writing a book similar to knightly novels about Amadis which he himself laughed at. But it's not fair. The fantastic setting in his novel is a secondary element. The true content is to depict the feelings of the human heart, and it is truthful.

Born in 1547 in the provincial town of Alcala de Henares, thirty kilometers from Madrid, in the family of a surgeon.

The future writer's large family lived in poverty, but was famous for the title of hidalgo. In the Cervantes family, Miguel was the fourth among seven children.

Even with such a title, the Cervantes family, led by father Rodrigo, had to move from place to place in search of income.

There are unverified reports that he studied at the University of Salamanca. Cervantes left his native land and, having arrived in Italy, became acquainted with the art of ancient times and the Renaissance.

In Rome, he drew inspiration and studied the works of Italian writers, which left its mark on the author’s later works.

In 1570 he enlisted in the naval infantry of Naples. It is also known that he participated in the Battle of Lepanto, where he lost his left arm. During this battle, the writer showed heroism and courage, of which he was rightfully proud.

In addition, during his service, the writer took part in campaigns to Corfu and Navarino. He was present at the surrender of Tunisia and La Gleta to the Ottoman Empire. Returning home from service, Cervantes is captured by Algerian pirates, who sell him into slavery. The future writer made several unsuccessful attempts to escape and miraculously escaped execution. After spending five years in captivity, he was ransomed by missionaries.

Miguel de Cervantes started quite late. Upon returning home, he wrote his first work, Galatea, which was followed by many other dramatic plays. Unfortunately, his works were not in great demand, which forced him to look for other sources of income: he either took on the purchase of provisions for ships, or worked as a collector of arrears.

The life of the future author was difficult, full of hardships and hardships. He had to go through a lot, nevertheless, Miguel constantly worked on the work of his whole life, and in 1604 the first part of the immortal novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha” was published for the first time. The work immediately created a sensation, the book literally flew off the shelves, and translations were made into many languages. However, this did not improve the author’s financial situation.

Cervantes continued to write actively for 12 years, from 1604 to 1616. Numerous short stories, dramatic works, a continuation of the bestseller Don Quixote, as well as a novel published only after the death of the author of Persiles and Sikhismunda were born.

Miguel allegedly became a monk in 1616, the same year the world-famous writer, who lived a difficult life, died. For a long time, the writer’s grave remained lost due to the lack of an inscription on his tomb. Cervantes’ contribution to world literature cannot be overestimated; he became the founder of a personal epic.

Cervantes's importance is based mainly on the novel Don Quixote. This work, known today throughout the world, fully reveals his versatile genius. There is a deep analysis of the nature of people here, from two angles: idealism and realism. The destinies of his heroes, who complement each other in the best possible way, reflect all the salt of world irony. By taking his knight through real life, the author reveals a diverse panorama of Spanish society.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, famous Spanish writer, author of Don Quixote, was born in 1547. It is known that he was baptized on October 9; perhaps 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 Acquaviva y Aragon, the ambassador of the Pope, and worked for him as a housekeeper. Together they left Madrid for Rome in 1569.

Cervantes stayed under Acquaviva for about a year, and in the second half of 1570 he became a soldier in the Spanish army, a regiment stationed in Italy. This period of his biography took him 5 years and had a significant impact on his future life, since Cervantes had the opportunity to become closely acquainted with Italy, its rich culture, and social order. The famous naval battle of Lepanto on October 7, 1571 became significant for Cervantes as well. he was wounded, as a result of which only his right hand remained active. He left the hospital in Messina only in the spring of 1572, but continued his military service.

In 1575, Miguel and his brother Rodrigo, also a soldier, were captured by pirates on a ship heading from Naples to Spain. They were sold into slavery and ended up in Algeria. The presence of letters of recommendation to the king helped Cervantes avoid heavy punishments and death. Four attempts to escape ended in failure, and only 5 years later, in 1580, Christian missionaries helped him gain freedom.

A life full of misadventures was replaced by the monotony of civil service and the constant search for a means of livelihood. The beginning of literary activity also dates back to this period. Almost 40-year-old Cervantes wrote in 1585 the pastoral novel Galatea and about 30 plays, which did not make much of an impression on the public. The income from writing was too small, and the writer moved from Madrid to Seville, where he took a job as a food supply commissioner. During the 6-year period of service, he had to be arrested three times: such consequences were caused by negligence in record keeping.

In 1603, Cervantes retired and the following year he moved from Seville to Valladolid, which was the temporary capital of Spain. In 1606, Madrid was proclaimed the main city of the kingdom - Cervantes moved there, and the most successful creative period is associated with this city in his biography. In 1605, the first part of Cervantes’ greatest novel was published - “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha”, which, being a parody of chivalric romances, became a real encyclopedia of the life of Spain in the 17th century, a literary work filled with the deepest philosophical and social content. The name of its main character has long become a household name. World fame did not come to Cervantes immediately; the author of Don Quixote was known more as a person with rich life experience who survived Algerian captivity.

The second part of the novel was written only 10 years later, and during this period a number of works were published that strengthened his fame as a writer: the second most important work is “Edifying Novels” (1613), a collection of “8 Comedies and 8 Interludes”. At the end of his creative path, a love adventure novel appeared called “The Wanderings of Persilius and Sikhismunda.” Despite his fame, Cervantes remained a poor man, living in a low-income area of Madrid.

In 1609 he became a member of the Confraternity of the Slaves of the Most Blessed Sacrament; his two sisters and wife took monastic vows. Cervantes himself did the same thing - he became a monk - literally on the eve of his death. 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 lack of an inscription on his grave led to the fact that the burial place remained unknown for a very long time.

Biography from Wikipedia

early years

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

Activities of the writer in Italy

Military career and the Battle of Lepanto

By 1570, Cervantes was enlisted as a soldier in the Spanish Marine Regiment located in Naples. He remained there about a year before entering active service. In September 1571, Cervantes sailed aboard the Marquis, part of the Holy League galley fleet that defeated the Ottoman flotilla at the Battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Patras on 7 October. Despite the fact that Cervantes was sick with a fever that day, he refused to stay in bed and asked to go into battle. According to eyewitnesses, he said: “ I prefer, even when sick and in the heat, to fight, as befits a good soldier... and not to hide under the protection of the deck" He fought bravely on board the ship and received three gunshot wounds - two in the chest and one in the forearm. The last wound deprived his left arm of mobility. In his poem "Journey to Parnassus" he had to say that he " lost the functionality of his left hand for the sake of glory of his right"(he was thinking about the success of the first part of Don Quixote). Cervantes always recalled his participation in this battle with pride: 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 and his brother Rodrigo were returning from Naples to Barcelona aboard the galley "The Sun" (la Galera del Sol). On the morning of September 26, on the approach to the Catalan coast, the galley was attacked by Algerian corsairs. The attackers were resisted, as a result of which many members of the Sun's crew were killed, and the rest were captured and taken to Algeria. Letters of recommendation found on Miguel Cervantes led to an increase in the amount of the required ransom. Cervantes spent 5 years in Algerian captivity (1575-1580), tried to escape four times and was only miraculously not executed. In captivity he was often subjected to various tortures.

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

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

Service in 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 some time an agent for Antonio Guevara, Royal Commissioner for the American Navy. This new life became a difficult test for him; he had to give up his favorite literary pursuits and reading, which served him as a break from work; I could only see my family occasionally. His time was spent traveling around the villages and hamlets of Andalusia and Grenada, where he purchased butter, grain bread and other products to supply the fleet. These activities did not suit his inclinations at all, and he suffered, feeling out of place.

Nevertheless, Cervantes fell in love with Seville. He liked that no one knew him here, that he could, at will, get mixed up in the crowd, which his experienced eye watched with curiosity. During the ten years Cervantes spent in Seville, this city became his second home. He studied in detail every corner of Seville, the customs and composition of its population.

Intention to travel to America

On May 21, 1590, in Madrid, Miguel submits a petition to the Council of the Indies to grant him a vacant position in the American colonies, in particular in “ Audit Office of the New Kingdom of Granada or the Governorate of the Province of Soconusco in Guatemala, or the Accountant of the Galleys of Cartagena, or the Corregidor of the City of La Paz", and all because he has still not been shown favors for his long (22 years) service to the Crown. The Chairman of the Council of the Indies on June 6, 1590 left a note on the petition stating that the submitter “ deserves to be given some service and can be trusted».

Cervantes about himself

In the prologue of the Edificatory Novels in 1613, Miguel de Cervantes wrote:

Under the portrait, my friend could write: “The man you see here has an oval face, brown hair, an open and large forehead, a cheerful look and a humpbacked, although correct, nose; with a silver beard, which twenty years ago was still golden; long mustache, small mouth; with teeth that are not very sparse, but not dense either, because he has only six of them, and, moreover, very unsightly and poorly spaced, because there is no correspondence between them; ordinary height - neither big nor small; with a good complexion, rather light than dark; slightly stooped and heavy on his feet, - 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 pass from hand to hand distorted, and sometimes without the name of the author. His colloquial name is Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. He served as a soldier for many 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, his arm was crippled by a shot from an arquebus, and although this injury seems ugly to others, in his eyes it is beautiful, for he received it in one of the most famous battles that were known in past centuries and which can happen in future, fighting under the victorious banners of the son of the “Thunderstorm of Wars” - Charles the Fifth of blessed memory.”
Miguel de Cervantes. Edifying short stories. Translation from Spanish by B. Krzhevsky. Moscow. Publishing house "Fiction". 1983

Personal life

Character

Literary activity

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

Miguel's literary activity 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 that enjoyed little success.

From then until his death, Cervantes’s literary activity did not stop: between 1604 and 1616, the second part of “Don Quixote”, all the short stories, and many dramatic works (“The Jealous Old Man”, “Theater of Miracles”, “Labyrinth of Love”, etc.) appeared. .), the poem “Journey to Parnassus” and the novel “Persiles and Sikhismunda” was written, published after the death of the author.

Heritage

Bibliography

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

Russian translations

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

Memory

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

Miguel de Cervantes is a famous writer in 16th century Spain. The most popular is his novel “The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha,” which had a tremendous influence on the development of all world literature.

Miguel de Cervantes: biography. early years

The future writer came from an impoverished noble family that lived in Alcala de Henares. The father was a simple doctor, his name was Hidalgo Rodrigo. Mother, Leonora de Cortina, was the daughter of a nobleman who squandered his entire fortune. In addition to Miguel, there were six children in the family; the writer himself was born the fourth.

The official date of birth of Cervantes is September 29, 1547. Since there is very little information about this period of his life, the day was calculated according to the church calendar - there was a tradition of giving children names in honor of saints whose holiday coincided with the time of the child’s birth. And on September 29, the day of the Archangel Michael was celebrated. The Spanish version of the name is Miguel.

There are several assumptions about the education of Cervantes. Some historians are sure that he graduated from the University of Salamanca. Others say that the writer studied with the Jesuits in Seville or Cordoba. Both versions have a right to exist, since no evidence has survived.

It is known for certain that Cervantes left his hometown and moved to Madrid. But the reasons for this action are unclear. Perhaps he decided to pursue his career, since he would not be able to achieve success in his homeland.

Military career

The biography of Cervantes is quite variable, since the writer lived a very long time ago, and before he gained fame, no one was interested in his life or documented the events.

Cervantes settled in Madrid. It was in this city that the young man was noticed by Cardinal Acquaviva, who invited Miguel to go to his service. The future writer agreed, and soon found himself in Rome, where he stayed for several years. Then he left church service and joined the Spanish army going to war with the Turks.

Cervantes took part in the Battle of Lepanto, where he fought bravely and lost an arm. He always spoke about his injury with pride. Later, the author wrote that the best warriors are those who come to the battlefield from the classroom. In his opinion, no one fights as bravely as learned men.

The injury did not cause his resignation. As soon as the wounds healed, Cervantes went to war again. He came under the command of Marcantonius Colonna and took part in the assault on Navarino. Then he served in the Spanish squadron and in the garrisons of Naples and Sicily.

In 1575, the writer decides to return to Spain. But on the way, his ship is captured by pirates. And Cervantes ends up in Algeria, where he spends 5 years in slavery. During this time, he tried to escape several times and gained incredible respect from his fellow prisoners.

Liberation

Cervantes' biography gives an idea of him as a courageous man who faced many trials. Later, his works will reflect these moments - both the description of the war and slavery.

Miguel was saved from captivity by his mother, who, being a widow, gave all her fortune to ransom her son from captivity. And in 1580, the future writer returned to his homeland. But his financial situation worsened. He had neither savings nor parental capital. This forced Cervantes to return to military service. He took part in the campaign to Lisbon, then went with the expedition to conquer the Azov Islands. He never gave up and it was impossible to break him.

First work

Cervantes' biography is full of trials and dangers. Despite his active lifestyle, he managed to find time to write even in the dungeons of Algeria. But he took up this professionally only after finishing his military career and returning to Spain.

His first work was the shepherd's novel Galatea, dedicated to the son of Colonna. The work included inserts from the author's life and various poems in Italian and Spanish tastes. However, the book was not a great success.

It is believed that the writer’s beloved, whom he married in 1584, was hiding under the name Galatea. She had a high birth, but was without a dowry. Therefore, the couple lived in poverty for a long time.

Literary career

Miguel Cervantes wrote a lot for the theater. A brief biography of the writer reports that there were about 20-30 plays in total. Unfortunately, only two of them have survived. Even the comedy “Lost,” which Cervantes himself called his best play, was lost.

But writing could not support his family, and life in Madrid was not cheap. The plight forced the writer to move his family to Seville. Here he managed to get a position in the financial department. But the salary was extremely low. Cervantes lived in Seville for 10 years, but very little is known about this period. It is clear that he continued to be in great need of money, since he also supported his sister, who gave her part of the inheritance to ransom her brother from captivity. During this time he wrote several poems and sonnets.

Last years and death

The biography of Cervantes Saavedra is interrupted for some time. They remain hidden from researchers for several years. He appears on stage again in 1603 in Valladolid. Here the writer carries out small tasks, which make up his entire income. In 1604, the first part of Don Quixote appeared, which brought its author dizzying success. However, this did not improve his financial situation, but it helped Cervantes become convinced of his literary talent. From that time until his death, he began to actively write.

He continued to work even on his deathbed, and shortly before his death he decided to become a monk. Cervantes died from dropsy, which tormented him for a long time. This happened on April 23, 1616 in Madrid, where the writer moved shortly before his death. For many years his grave was lost, as there was no inscription on the tombstone. The remains of Cervantes were discovered only in 2015 in the crypt of the Monastery de las Trinitarias.

"Don Quixote"

The biography of Cervantes is primarily the life story of the author of Don Quixote. This novel is recognized as one of the greatest literary creations in the entire history of mankind. The work received recognition during the author’s lifetime. The name of Cervantes became known not only in his homeland, but also in other European countries. The first part of the novel was published in 1605, and the second exactly 10 years later.

The book brought not only success to its author, but also ridicule and bullying. And shortly before the publication of the second part, the novel “The Second Part of Don Quixote” was published, which was written by a certain Alonso de Avellaneda. This book was noticeably inferior to the original and contained many rude allusions and ridicule of Miguel himself.

Other works

We have outlined the biography of Cervantes. Now let's briefly talk about his works. In 1613, the author’s collection “Edifying Stories” was published, which collected everyday stories. Many people compare this book in terms of its fascination and themes with The Decameron.

The biography and work of Cervantes allow us to get an idea of the author’s personality. We can say that he was a brave, witty and talented person who was often unlucky in life.