Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes is considered to be a great literary figure of Spain; he was born in small university district of Alcala

de Henares located near Madrid. He was fourth of a seven children of Ridrigo. His father was a surgeon and mostly remained out of contact from family because of his professional duties and travelling across Spain. Cervantes received elementary education in a school of a Spanish humanist, Juan Lopez. Cervantes served in the household of a royal family of Spain afterwards he joined the Spanish army. He received serious injuries and lost control of his left hand in the war against Turks at the Lepanto battle in 1570. Later, on his departure for Spain, he was captured by Barbary pirates. He served five years imprisonment in Algiers. This incident proved to be the turning point in his life and he made him a man with a wonderful ideas. He married much older women than his age in 1584 and managed to claim a good position as a government official in the south of Spain. His request to move to New World was turned down and he intended to gain employment at home. By 1591, Carventas was famous for his writing and became a promising author. He published his first work in 1585, La Galatea, a romance based book which brought him positive reviews and praise from his contemporaries. Don Quixote de la Mancha, his most famous work was published in Madrid in two parts. This novel was a top seller of that time and brought his writing into spotlight and he became famous overnight among general public of Spain. His final prose fiction, describes as a Byzantine romance was rated by Cervantes as his best work among rest. He died four days after he prepared his dedication for this book.