Who was Cervantes?

One of Spain's most famous writers, Miguel de Cervantes created one of the world's greatest literary masterpieces, Don Quixote, in the early 1600s. The son of a deaf surgeon, Miguel de Cervantes was born near Madrid in 1547. He became a soldier in 1570 and was badly wounded in the Battle of Lepanto. Captured by the Turks in 1575, de Cervantes spent five years in prison. He was freed in 1580 and returned home. De Cervantes finally achieved literary success in his later years, publishing the first part of Don Quixote in 1605. He died in 1616. 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. The title character soon gets lost in his own fantasy world, believing he is one of these knights, and convinces a poor peasant, Sancho Panza, to serve as his squire. In one scene, Don Quixote even fights a windmill, mistaking it for a giant. Quixote regains his senses before the novel ends. The became the world's first best-seller, eventually being translated into more than 60 different languages. De Cervantes published the second part of the story in 1615.