Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616) was a Spanish soldier, tax collector and novelist who had lived most of an eventful life before he wrote the book he is known for. He was shot three times at the battle of Lepanto and lost the use of his left hand; on the way home he was captured by corsairs and spent five years enslaved in Algiers, attempting escape four times. Back in Spain he requisitioned grain for the Armada and was jailed over the accounts. He published the first part of Don Quixote at fifty-seven, and wrote the second after another author brought out a spurious sequel.