Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616) was the Spanish soldier and writer who wrote Don Quixote, widely regarded as the first modern novel. Born at Alcalá de Henares, he left Spain in 1569.

In 1571 he fought at Lepanto, where he took three wounds, one leaving his left hand useless, and was nicknamed the one-handed man of Lepanto. In 1575 corsairs captured his ship, and he spent almost five years captive in Algiers, making four escape attempts, until the Trinitarians ransomed him in 1580. Back in Spain he published La Galatea in 1585 and was briefly jailed over his accounts.

Part One of Don Quixote appeared in 1605, written to undermine empty chivalric romances, and was an instant success. The Novelas ejemplares followed in 1613; when an unauthorised Avellaneda sequel appeared in 1614, Cervantes answered with Part Two in 1615. He died in Madrid in 1616.