Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet and playwright, born around 29 September 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, in the Crown of Castile. He lived through the age of the Spanish empire and had an adventurous, often difficult life. He served as a soldier, was wounded in naval fighting, and spent years as a captive in Algiers before his family helped to ransom him. Back in Spain he worked in public service and wrote for the theatre, often without much money or security.

He is remembered above all for Don Quixote, published in two parts in the early seventeenth century, which many readers regard as the first modern novel. Its mix of comedy, sadness and sharp observation of ordinary people shaped fiction for centuries. He also wrote short stories, plays and poems. He died on 22 April 1616 in Madrid.