LA REUNIÓN DE
FORT LAUDERDALE 2005
FORT LAUDERDALE 2005 REUNION - PAGE 13
courtesy of Jill.
on the photos below for larger versions.
Cervantes died in Madrid on April 23, 1616.
In honor of the date on which both Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare died, UNESCO
established April 23 as the International
Day of the Book.
(Shakespeare and Cervantes, however, did not actually die on the same day, as
the April 23 date for Shakespeare is Julian calendar (Old Style) and the April
23 date for Cervantes is Gregorian calendar (New Style) as those were the
calendars in effect in England and in Spain, respectively, at that time. The
Gregorian calendar was then ten days ahead of the Julian.)
The Encyclopedia Hispanica claims that the date widely
quoted as Cervantes' date of death, namely April 23, is actually the date on his
which, in accordance with the traditions of the time, would be the date of his
burial, rather than the date of his death. If this is true, then, according to Hispanica,
it means that Cervantes probably died on April 22 and was buried on April 23,
but the true date of his death is unknown.
Of his burial-place nothing is known, except that he was
buried, in accordance with his will, in the neighboring convent of Trinitarian
nuns. Isabel de Saavedra, Cervantes' daughter, was supposedly a member of this
convent. A few years afterwards the nuns moved to another convent and carried
their dead with them. Whether the remains of Cervantes were included in the
removal or not no one knows, and the clue to their final resting place is now