MIGUEL de CERVANTES Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, born September 29, 1547, was a Spanish novelist, dramatist, and poet. Cervantes was the author of the novel Don Quixote, a masterpiece of world literature that was a great influence to other renaissance writers. Cervantes was born to a poor family in a town called Alcala de Henares. His father was a surgeon who made little money to support the family . Without the means for much formal education, Cervantes became …showed first 75 words of 965 total…

…showed last 75 words of 965 total…that Part II of Don Quixote is superior because of its compact organization (Funk & Wagnalls Encyclopedia). Don Quixote has had a tremendous influence on the development of prose fiction. It has been translated into all modern languages and has appeared in some 700 editions. The theme of realism verses idealism, brought forth by this novel, shaped and were major influences of other renaissance writers and artists. Cervantes was truly a renaissance mind at it's best.