Sancho Panza is a fictional character in the novel Don Quixote written by Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, known as sanchismos, that are a combination of broad humour, ironic Spanish proverbs, and earthy wit. "Panza" in Spanish means "belly".
Statue of Sancho Panza in Madrid (Lorenzo Coullaut Valera, 1930)
Bronze statues of Sancho Panza (L) and Don Quixote (R) at the Cervantes Birth Place Museum
Honoré Daumier − Don Quichotte und Sancho Panza (c. 1868)
Sancho laments the fall of his master.
Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615. Considered a founding work of Western literature, it is often labelled as the first modern novel and the greatest work ever written. Don Quixote is also one of the most-translated books in the world and one of the best-selling novels of all time.
Don Quixote de la Mancha (first edition, 1605)
Don Quixote goes mad from his reading of books of chivalry. Engraving by Gustave Doré.
Illustration by Gustave Doré depicting the famous windmill scene
Don Quixote de la Mancha and Sancho Panza, 1863, by Gustave Doré
