Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, father of the modern novel and innovative Spanish author, was also a distinguished soldier and humanist. Born on September 29, 1547 in Alcalá de Henares, Spain, to surgeon-apothecary Rodrigo de Cervantes and Leonor de Cortinas, he grew up in Córdoba, Cabra and Seville. Much of his life is undocumented, so dates and events have been assumed by scholars. Cervantes studied under Lopez de Hoyos at the Estudio de la Villa in Madrid. Hoyos loved his student and commissioned him to write poems to be included in a volume commemorating the death of Élisabeth de Valiois. Cervantes studied humanism, the Renaissance idea that scholars should use the written text as a source of information to form arguments and build on the ideas contained in the text. Cervantes embraced this concept, considered radical at the time, and was astute in phrasing his ideas in such a way that they could be interpreted as both a criticism and a compliment. Alongside his literary career, Miguel de Cervantes was a distinguished soldier serving in the Ottoman-Habsburg Wars. He enlisted in 1570 and participated in the Holy League's naval victory at Lepanto on October 7, 1571. Fighting aboard the ship Marquesa, he requested assignment to a particularly dangerous area. During the battle he received two arquebus wounds to the chest and a third to his left hand, leaving it so badly mutilated that he never regained use of it. After recovering from his wounds, Cervantes participated in at least two more battles. Preparing for promotion to captain, he obtained permission to sail to Spain in search of commissions; he and his brother Rodrigo left Naples in September 1575. On September 26, their ship, the Sol, was attacked by three Turkish gals...... middle of paper ...... such as Charles Dickens, Herman Melville and Mark Two. Cervantes' works continued to inspire 20th-century writers, including James Joyce and Giannia Braschi. Don Quixote has captured the imagination of artists of many genres, being covered in opera, ballet, film, music and art. The first use of the word "quixote" was recorded in 1718, more than a hundred years after Cervantes' death. Not only did he write the first modern novel and introduce short stories into Spanish literature, but he also created a word defining an ideal: "to be hopeful or romantic in a way that is not practical." References: “Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra”. 2014. The Biography.com website. April 10, 2014 http://www.biography.com/people/miguel-de-cervantes-9242997. “Miguel de Cervantes, Saavedra.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Internet. April 8. 2014.