PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Miguel Cervantes, who lived from September 29, 1574 until April 22, 1616, was a Spanish writer who is know by many as the greasiest writer in the Spanish language, as well as the world's preeminent novelists.
Don Quixote, one of his most famous works, has been translated into more languages than any book except for the Bible.
Don Quixote is considered by some to be the first modern novel. It is a Western literature classic, and is thought of as the best fiction work ever written.
He had a great influence on the Spanish language, so it is now sometimes referred to as la lengua de Cervantes which translates, the language of Cervantes.
He has also been named El príncipe de dos inglenios, which means The Prince if Wits).
When forced to leave Castile in 1569, Miguel Cervantes moved to Rome where he worked as a chamber assistant of a cardinal.
Cervantes enlisted as a soldier in a Spanish Navy infantry regiment some time after he moved to Rome, and continued working in the military until he was captured by Barbary pirates in 1575.
Miguel Cervantes was released five years after being captures, on a payment of ransom by his parents and a Catholic religious order, "the Trinitarians" and he returned to his family in Madrid.
Miguel Cervantes published a pastoral novel called La Galatea in 1585. At the time, he worked as a purchasing agent for the Spanish Armada, but later became a tax collector for the government.
Discrepancies in Cervantes' account for the last three years, sent him to the Crown Jail of Seville in 1597.
Cervantes was in Valladolid, but the immediate success after he published the first part of Don Quixote in Madrid, made him return to the literary world, and continue writing books.
Miguel Cervantes moved to Madrid and worked there until he died. Cervantes continued his writing , and solidified his reputation as an author during his last few years after he published several books including, Novelas ejemplares (Exemplary Novels) in 1613, Viaje al Parnaso (Journey to Parnassus) in 1614, and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses and the second part of Don Quixote in 1615.
Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda ("The Travails of Persiles and Sigismunda") was his last book, and was published after his death in 1617.
Miguel Cervantes got married in 1584 to Catalina de Salazar y Palacios. Miguel Cervantes had an affair with an actress named Ana Franca de Rojas, and had a daughter named Isabel de Saavedra in 1584, though he never had any children with his wife.
