Miguel de Cervantes

Don Quixote

Part 1 appeared in 1605, part 2 in 1615: partly in answer to a brazen fake continuation.

💡 Did you know? „Don Quixote“ is regarded by many as the first modern novel and one of the most read books in world literature.

windmills

'Tilting at windmills' became, in dozens of languages, the phrase for hopeless battles.

💡 Did you know? The knight charging windmills he takes for giants became the emblem of hopeless battles: „tilting at windmills“.

Sancho Panza

The down-to-earth peasant on his donkey (the knight's counterpart and mirror; his promised reward): an island.

💡 Did you know? The earthy, proverb-laden Sancho Panza is the perfect foil to the unworldly idealist Don Quixote.

Rocinante

The name became proverbial for a scrawny horse; the lady of his heart is called Dulcinea.

💡 Did you know? The broken-down nag Rosinante became so famous that Steinbeck named his travel camper after him.

Lepanto

'For the greater glory of the right,' he joked; he was called 'the one-handed man of Lepanto'.

💡 Did you know? In the naval battle of Lepanto in 1571 against the Ottomans, Cervantes lost the use of his left hand: he proudly called himself „the one-handed man of Lepanto“.

in Algiers

Four escape attempts failed before friars ransomed him.

💡 Did you know? He worked the captivity into the 'Captive's Tale' inside Don Quixote.

in prison

Jailed as a tax collector over missing funds: so he hints in the prologue.

💡 Did you know? Legend has it that the idea for „Don Quixote“ came to Cervantes while he was jailed over irregularities as a tax collector.

Spain

Born in 1547 in Alcalá de Henares near Madrid: Spain's 'Golden Age' of literature bears his stamp.

💡 Did you know? On his way home from Lepanto, Cervantes was captured and spent five years as a slave in Algiers until he was ransomed.

Shakespeare

UNESCO's World Book Day on 23 April commemorates them both.

💡 Did you know? Cervantes died in April 1616: almost at the same time as Shakespeare; World Book Day on 23 April commemorates both.

Instituto Cervantes

Spain's counterpart to the British Council: promoting Spanish language and culture worldwide.

💡 Did you know? The worldwide „Instituto Cervantes“ promotes Spanish language and culture: just as the Goethe-Institut does for German.

He had sold the rights

The novel counts among the most printed books of world literature: its author stayed hard up all his life.

💡 Did you know? Although „Don Quixote“ became a worldwide success, Cervantes stayed poor; he had sold the rights for little money.

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes was a Spanish writer whose „Don Quixote“ is often regarded as the first modern novel in world literature.

💡 Did you know? In the naval battle of Lepanto he lost the use of his left hand and thereafter proudly called himself „the one-handed man of Lepanto“.