September 1, 2016 Library of Congress Celebrates Life and Work of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress will host a series of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the death of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), the author of “Don Quixote,” considered one of the most influential works of literature ever published. All the events are free and open to the public; no reservations are required. The events will be held in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, located at 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, D.C., unless otherwise noted.

To begin the celebration, Catalonian playwright Jordi Casanovas will talk about his contemporary play “Cervantes: The Last Quixote” on Friday, Sept. 9, at noon. in the Whittall Pavilion, located on the ground floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building.

On Friday, Sept. 16 at noon, award-winning Catalonian classical guitar artist Maestro Francesc de Paula Soler will perform a solo concert and talk about “Music in the Time of Cervantes,” at noon in the Whittall Pavilion. This event is being co-sponsored by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.

On Friday, Oct. 21 at 3 p.m., Hernán Sánchez Martínez de Pinillos, professor in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, University of Maryland at College Park, will give a talk about “The Life and Work of Miguel de Cervantes,” in the Lessing J. Rosenwald Room of the Rare Books and Special Collections Division, located on the second floor of the Jefferson Building. A display of rare treasures by Cervantes will be on view during the lecture.

Professor William Egginton, who teaches in the Spanish program of the Department of German and Romance Languages at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, will present and sign his new book “The Man Who Invented Fiction: How Cervantes Ushered in the Modern World” on Friday, Dec. 2, at noon in the Mary Pickford Theater, located in the Library’s James Madison Building, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E. This is event is co-sponsored with the Poetry and Literature Center.

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

The Hispanic Division, established in 1939, is the center for the study of the cultures and societies of Hispanic/Latinos in the United States and Latin America, the Caribbean, the Iberian Peninsula and other areas where Spanish or Portuguese influence have been significant. For more information about the Hispanic Reading Room and the Hispanic collections of the Library, visit www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/.