Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes, the Spanish writer, was born in 1547 near Madrid, the son of a barber-surgeon who moved the family from town to town chasing work. His early life reads like an adventure. As a young man he traveled to Italy and signed on as a soldier with Spain's forces. At the sea battle of Lepanto in 1571 he was shot and lost the use of his left hand, a wound he wore with pride. Worse followed. On his way home he was captured by Barbary corsairs, sea raiders based in North Africa. They held him captive in Algiers for five years, until his family scraped together the ransom.