Issue: February 1997 Artist: "Ze'ev" (Ya'acov Farkas) Size: 25.7mm x 40mm Plate #: 305 Sheet of 15 stamps Tabs: 5 Printers: E. Lewin - Epstein Ltd. Printing Method: offset

He knew much suffering in his life. In 1571, at the age of 24, he fought in the Battle of Lepanto, during which he was wounded in the chest and his left arm was completely paralysed. In 1575, on his return to Spain, his ship ran into Turkish vessels and was taken captive. Until his family finally managed to get him released, Cervantes was held prisoner in Algeria for five years.

To earn his livelihood, Cervantes held many unsatisfying jobs, such as supplying the Spanish Armada with food and collecting taxes for the Granada government. He was excommunicated by the Church on two occasions, and was imprisoned twice for financial entanglements. In 1584, when he was 37 years old, Cervantes published his first book, La Galatea. The response was not impressive.

In 1605, he published the first part of Don Quixote, which finally brought the 60-year-old author acclaim -- in unprecedented volumes. His masterpiece was published in numerous editions and he followed it with several other literary works: Exemplary Novels (1613); Voyage to Parnassus (1614) Comedies and Interludes (1615); and Persiles and Sigismunda (1617). His belated fame, however, barely altered his difficult financial position. Cervantes died in 1616, one year after the second part of Don Quixote was published. His family was unable to pay for the funeral.

Don Quixote is considered to be not only the first modern novel, but also one of the finest and most influential of modern works. Cervantes' admirers include Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe, who recognised Quixotic elements in his writing; Stendhal and Flaubert, both of whom acknowledged the tremendous influence that Don Quixote had on their art; and William Faulkner, who said that he read and reread Don Quixote as often as others do the Bible.

In Don Quixote, the character of the knight is captivated by the world of the written word -- nearly unto madness. His perception of books as the origin of truth, as guides to correcting the wrongs of the world, has evoked special meaning among "The People of the Book" -- the Jews -- who saw the valiant knight as a symbol of their own fate. It is not by chance that two modern Hebrew works bear the clearly discernable stamp of Don Quixote: Travels of Benjamin the Third by Mendel Mokher Sfarim (Mendeli the Bookseller) and The Bridal Canopy by S. Y. Agnon.

In 1871, Nahman Fraenkel attempted the first Hebrew version of the novel, under the strange title of Avinoam the Galilean, or The Foolish Messiah. While H. N. Bialik's abridged translation (1912) was well received by many readers of Hebrew, the first full-length translation of the novel into Hebrew was by Nathan Agmon (Bistrisky) in 1958. Recently, an additional translation was published by Beatriz Zakroiski-Landau and Luis Landau (1994). One of the most significant adaptations of Don Quixote to a different medium is the musical The Man of La Mancha.

Don Quixote -- benevolent madman, wonderful, tragic and funny, tireless fighter of the windmills of an imperfect reality -- has ridden his horse Rocinante for 400 years now, while his faithful manservant, simpleton Sancho Panza, has ridden alongside him on his donkey, adhering to his master as the body does to the soul. As long as people still read books and dream, these two literary heroes will continue their journey.