A Maltese translation of Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote in poetic form will be published on April 13 – the 400th anniversary of the author’s death.

The literary masterpiece translated into Maltese, penned in the early 1980s by Pawlu Montebello (1905-2005), has been discovered in a private collection of the late journalist Anton Cassar.

The work is being published by Sensiela Kotba Soċjalisti.

Don Quixote has been translated into many languages including French, German, Italian and English. This interpretation in Maltese in poetic form adds to its lasting influence since the 16th century when Cervantes (1547-1616) wrote it.

He is best known for this major work, considered to be the first modern European novel and one of the best works of western literary fiction.

Cervantes himself states that he wrote Don Quixote in order to undermine the influence of those “vain and empty books of chivalry” as well as to provide some merry, original and sometimes prudent material for his readers’ entertainment.

Last year, Cervantes was given a formal burial in Madrid after bone fragments were confirmed to have belonged to the Don Quixote author. The bones were dug up by experts after a long search at the convent where Cervantes was known to have been buried in 1616.

The anniversary of his death will be marked in Spain and elsewhere by political and cultural figures.