Miguel de cervantes saavedra, alonso Quijano, don Quixote de la Mancha and medicine

Abstract

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was the son of an itinerant surgeon. He wrote a masterpiece of the world literature, El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha. It is rivalled only by the Bible for the number of languages into which it has been translated. This masterpiece of the world literature is considered to be the first modern novel. For the physician, a reading of the Quijote is likely to veer in a medical direction. Various medical matters arise in the course of the novel, ranging from medical illness, treatments and battle wounds to the psychological profile of their characters. Cervantes's excellent nosological ability is evident when he describes symptoms and signs of illness, derived from being a witness to his father's medical practice and reading medical books. Don Quixote representing an idealized and fictional world with clear psychotic features. Although Cervantes wrote it four centuries ago, Don Quixote contains plenty of references to different specialities of medicine, and many of the ideas and concepts reflected in it are still of interest. The aim of this paper is to describe briefly the medical environment that surrounded Cervantes and its impact on the Quixote.