Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, who lived from an assumed birth date of 29 September 1547 to 22 April 1616, was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's preeminent novelists, best known for his two part novel Don Quixote, considered the first modern novel and often named the best book of all time. Much of his life was spent in relative poverty and obscurity, causing many of his early works to be lost; in 1569 he left Spain for Rome to work in a cardinal's household, and in 1570 he enlisted in a Spanish infantry regiment, suffering serious wounds that cost him the use of his left hand at the Battle of Lepanto in October 1571. He served as a soldier until 1575, when he was captured by Barbary pirates and held five years in captivity before being ransomed and returning to Madrid. His first significant novel, La Galatea, was published in 1585 while he continued working as a purchasing agent and later a government tax collector; Part One of Don Quixote appeared in 1605 and Part Two in 1615, alongside other works including the twelve Novelas ejemplares, the long poem Viaje del Parnaso, and Ocho comedias y ocho entremeses, with his final novel, Los trabajos de Persiles y Sigismunda, published posthumously in 1617.