A SPANISH NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT, AND POET

THIS SCULPTURE IS IN FRONT OF HIS NATAL HOUSE

BUT HE DID ATTEND A LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOL IN MADRID

Cervantes suddenly fled to Rome in 1568

In Italy, Cervantes joined a Spanish regiment

BUT ON THE WAY TO SPAIN HE WAS CAPTURED BY PIRATES

UNTIL HIS FAMILY WAS ABLE TO PAY HIS RANSOM IN 1580

WOULD HEAVILY INFLUENCE HIS LITERARY WORKS

AND HE STRUGGLED WITH THE LOWER STANDARDS OF MIDDLE CLASS LIVING

LA GALATEA WAS HIS FIRST PUBLISHED WORK

HE ALSO TRIED HIS HAND AT DRAMA

MADE CERVANTES' PLAYS SEEM OLD FASHIONED AND OUTDATED

AND MADE A LIVING REQUISITIONING CORN AND OIL AND COLLECTING TAXES

AND STARTED WRITING AGAIN AROUND 1597

WAS PUBLISHED IN 1604 AND BECAME AN IMMEDIATE SUCCESS

A KNIGHT AND RECRUITS A SIMPLE FARMER NAMED SANCHO PANZA AS HIS SQUIRE

BUT HAS BEEN INTERPRETED VARIOUS WAYS

SOME SEE A COMMENTARY ON HIS ALIENATION, OTHERS A CRITIQUE ON IMPERIALISM

BECAME AN UNLIKELY BUT BELOVED HERO OF SPANISH LITERATURE

INCLUDING THIS PIECE OF PICASSO'S

or the technique of using differing opinions (voices) in a work

HE CONTINUED TO WRITE UNTIL HIS DEATH IN 1616

FUN FACT: HE DIED A MERE WEEK EARLIER THAN

RILEY, EDWARD C., AND ANNE J. CRUZ. "CERVANTES, MIGUEL DE."