Miguel de Cervantes biography

Synopsis

Early Years

For nearly his entire life, Miguel de Cervantes struggled financially. His father, Rodrigo, deaf from birth, worked as a surgeon—a lowly trade at the time. De Cervantes and his family moved around several times in his youth, as his father searched for better work prospects.

De Cervantes was an avid reader as a child—a skill he was reportedly taught by a relative. Whether he had much formal education has been a subject of debate among scholars. Some believe that de Cervantes may have been taught by the Jesuits based on some of his writings, but others dispute this claim.

Poetry and War

The first published works by de Cervantes appear in 1569. He contributed some poetry to a memorial collection after the death of Elizabeth of Valois, the wife of Spanish king Philip II. By the following year, de Cervantes had put his words aside and, instead, picked up a weapon: He had joined a Spanish military unit in Italy.

Known for his bravery, de Cervantes took part in the Battle of Lepanto. Stationed on the ship La Marquesa, he fought against the Ottoman Empire and sustained serious injuries in the conflict: He suffered two chest wounds and his left hand was completely maimed. Despite his disability, de Cervantes continued to serve as a soldier for several more years.

In 1575, de Cervantes and his brother, Rodrigo, tried to return to Spain, but they were captured by a group of Turkish ships during their voyage. De Cervantes spent five years as a prisoner and a slave, and made several failed attempts to escape during his imprisonment. He finally went home after a ransom was paid for his release.

'Don Quixote'

De Cervantes published his first novel, La Galatea, in 1585. This pastoral romance failed to make much of a splash. Around the same time, de Cervantes tried to make it the then-lucrative world of theater (plays were an important form of entertainment in Spain at the time, and a successful playwright could earn a good living). Unfortunately, de Cervantes did not achieve fortune and fame with his plays. In fact, only two of his plays survived.

In late 1580s, de Cervantes began working for Spanish Armada as a commissary. It was a thankless task, collecting grain supplies from rural communities. Many did not want to provide the goods, and de Cervantes ended up in prison on two occasions because of charges of mismanagement. During this trying time, he began writing some of literature's greatest masterpieces.

De Cervantes published the first part of Don Quixote in 1605. The novel tells the story of an elderly man who becomes so enamored by old stories of brave knights that he seeks out his adventures.