Remains of Don Quixote author believed identified in convent crypt

Researchers sift through material discovered in a crypt that is believed to be the final resting place of the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote at the Convent of the Barefoot Trinitarians in Madrid, Spain. Sociedad de Ciencia Aranzadi / AFP

Experts believe they have found the remains of famed Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in a Madrid convent.

Releasing the latest details of the nearly yearlong search, forensic anthropologist Francisco Etxeberria said on Tuesday that investigators' work led them to believe that Cervantes' bones are among the remains of 15 bodies found in the crypt of the Barefoot Trinitarians. However, he said, the researchers were unable to isolate them or prove definitively which belonged to the author of the Spanish language's most revered work, Don Quixote.

Etxeberria said scientists would try to create DNA profiles of the bones, but he said they were not sure if this would be possible. Cervantes had no known descendants.

Cervantes was buried in the convent in 1616, but construction work in the following years made it difficult to ascertain exactly where his bones lay.

Don Quixote-the story of a delusional country gentleman who sets out to right wrongs as a self-styled knight - had a far-reaching impact on world literature.

Born near Madrid in 1547, Cervantes has been dubbed the father of the novel for Don Quixote, whose full title is The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, which was published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615.

The proverbial phrase "tilting at windmills" - a wellmeaning, misguided bid to vanquish imaginary enemies - also originated from Don Quixote's adventures.

Cervantes is recorded as having been buried at the convent's chapel a day after his death on April 22, 1616, but the exact whereabouts of his grave was unknown.

In April last year, Etxeberria's team launched the first significant search for the remains of the greatest writer of the Spanish Golden Age.

They used infrared cameras, 3D scanners and ground-penetrating radar to identify spots where remains could lie.

Authorities had hoped that the search, which cost 160,000 euros ($168,000), would allow them to do the great author justice by giving him a properly marked burial site.

Investigators believed they had solid clues to work with in the probe. Cervantes died at age 69 and wrote that he only had six teeth in the end.

He also had battle wounds. In 1571, the writer was wounded in the Battle of Lepanto, which pitted Ottoman Turkish forces against the Holy League, led by Spain. Cervantes was hit by three musket shots, two in the chest and one in a hand.

Xinhua - AP