Neo Vidmar, 7. r. P.S. Podmurvice, Rijeka presentation about spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes for etwinning and Erasmus KA229 project A.Li.E.N.

1. Miguel de
Cervantes
NEO VIDMAR, 7.A

2. Introduction
►
Miguel de Cervantes is considered by many to be
the most important writer in the Spanish language
► His biography is very unusual for a writer
► Cervantes fought in naval battles, spent years in
pirate captivity, worked for the country as tax
collector….
► to this day many questions about his life are still
unanswered

3. About his life…
► he was born in 1547 to a poor family in the small town of Alcali de Henares near
Madrid
► at the age of twenty he wrote his first poetry
► he goes to Rome in 1569 - the reasons are not entirely known, but it is possible that
they had to do with participating in a duel that forced him to leave Madrid
► In Italy he joined the military and in 1571 he fought in the Battle of Lepanto, a victory
against the Ottoman Empire
► his chest and left arm were injured and he could not use his left arm for the rest of his
life
► After recovering je was in the military for 4 more years and decided to return to Spain
in 1575

4. About his life…
► While on his trip back to Spain, his
ship was raided by pirates and he
was imprisoned in Algeria
► He tried to escape multiple times but
he failed every time and he stayed in
jail for 5 years
► His family and a religious order
eventually raised enough ransom
money and Cervantes finally
returned to his home country

5. About his life…
► in 1584 he got married, had a daughter and with his family he settled in a village in Castille – La
Mancha
► he then writes his first novel La Galatea but it finds no success
► in 1587 he got the job of a tax collector and in the next 10 years travels through south Spain
dobio je posao poreznika pa sljedećih deset godina putuje diljem južne Španjolske
► in those 10 years he spent some time in jail, most likely because of some debts
► it is belived that while in his cell he started
to think about adventures of the nobleman
from La Manche – Don Quijote and his
sidekick which he later wrote a novel
about
► the novel Don Quijote was first released in
1605 and became a huge success and
then Cervantes started to dedicate himself
to writing

6. The Ingenious Gentleman
Don Quijote of La Manche
► His most popular novel Don Quijote is a srory about a
man who lives in a village in La Manche
► He reads stories about knights and starts to mix up
reality and fiction, he then names himself a knight and
decides to fight against injustice
► He is followed by a villager Sancho Panza and later
promotes him to his sidekick
► The character of Don Quijote became a symbol of a
man who fights for justice
► Cervantes’ character gave inspiration to countless
other authors

7. Cervantesov funeral
► The bones were dug out of a monastery
which was belived where he was burried
in 1616
► Although there isnt any solid evidence, six
teeth and traces of war injuries and the
body was marked with the initials M.C.
were enough for archeologists to conclude
that they found a long lost treasure
► Spain then organised him a funeral
► Cervantes died in 1616 and his body was burried in a monestary of The Order of The holy trinity
in Madrid but his burrial place was forgotten
► In the start of 2015 fragments of bones were found which were belived to have belonged to
Miguel de Cerventes

8. Statues of Cervantes
► today throughout the world there are statues of Cervantes
Toledo, Spain
Madrid, Spain
Moskva, Russia
Havana, Kuba

9. Spomenici Cervantesu
Nafpaktos, Grčka
New York, USA
San Francisco, USA

10. World Book and Copyright day
► The 23rd of April marks The World Book and
Copyright day because it was belived both Miguel
de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died on
the 23rd of April
► On that day throughout the world public readings
of Don Quijote are organised
► It goes on for 48 hours without stopping, and the
most popular writers, actors, poets, musicians,
singers,…

11. Sources:
► https://www.profil-klett.hr/bistri-vitez-don-quijote-ili-miguel-de-cervantes
► https://www.enciklopedija.hr
► https://www.britannica.com
► https://hrv.worldtourismgroup.com/7-facts-you-need-know-about-miguel-
de-cervantes-34642