Painter Salvador Dali's Body to be Exhumed For Paternity Suit

Culture | June 27, 2017, Tuesday // 10:58|  views

A judge in Madrid has ordered the exhumation of the body of Spanish artist Salvador Dalí to get samples for a paternity suit, BBC reported.

A Spanish woman, born in 1956, said her mother, a maid, had a clandestine affair with the painter in 1955.

The judge said there were no biological remains or personal objects of the artist to be used in the test. He died in Spain in 1989 at the age of 85.

The Dalí Foundation, which manages the artist's estate, says it will appeal.

The surrealist painter was buried in the theatre and museum he designed himself, in his home town of Figueres in the north-eastern Catalonia region.

Maria Pilar Abel Martínez, a tarot card reader who was born in Girona, made the paternity claim for the first time in 2015.

She said her mother, Antonia, had worked for a family that spent time in Cadaqués, next to where the painter had a home.

Antonia left her job in 1955, moved to a different city and married another man.

Ms Martínez claimed that her mother told her several times that Dalí was her father, on many occasions in front of others.

"The only thing I'm missing is a moustache," she once said, according to local Spanish newspaper. 

At the time of the alleged affair, Dalí was married to his muse Gala, born Elena Ivanovna Diakonova. The couple had no children.

The decision also cites that Ms Martínez underwent two paternity tests, both in 2007, but never received the results.

Her legal action is against the Spanish state, to which Dalí left his estate.

If she is confirmed to be the artist's daughter, she could use his surname and be entitled to part of his estate - but Spanish media say she would have to legally request it.

Ms Martínez's lawyer said there was no date for the exhumation, but that it could happen as soon as July.

The Dalí Foundation said in a statement that an appeal would "be lodged in the coming days."

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Tags: exhumation, artist, daughter, Salvador Dali

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