The body of the artist Salvador DalĂ is due to be exhumed late on Thursday in order to settle a paternity suit brought by a woman who claims to be his daughter. The surrealist painter, who died in 1989 at the age of 85, was buried in a crypt in a museum dedicated to his life and work in Figueres, in north-eastern Spain. Samples will be taken from his remains to see if they match the DNA of the claimant. The process is going ahead despite the objections of the local authorities and the foundation carrying DalĂ's name, both of which claimed that not enough notice had been given ahead of the exhumation. It will require the removal of a 1.5-tonne slab covering his tomb in order to reach his body.
Ms MartĂnez says she was born in 1956 as a result of an affair between DalĂ and her mother
MarĂa Pilar Abel MartĂnez, a tarot card reader who was born in 1956, says her mother had an affair with DalĂ during the year before her birth. Her mother, Antonia, had worked for a family that spent time in CadaquĂ©s, near the painter's home. Last month a Madrid judge ordered the exhumation to settle the claim. It is contested by the DalĂ foundation, which manages the estate of the artist, who was not believed to have had any children. Ms MartĂnez says her mother and paternal grandmother both told her at an early age that DalĂ was her real father. She told El Mundo newspaper that her grandmother said to her: "I love you a lot but I know that you're not the daughter of my son. What's more, I know who your father is - he is Salvador DalĂ." One day, Ms MartĂnez says, she asked her mother: "Am I really Salvador Dali's daughter? Because look at how ugly he was." She says her mother replied: "Yes, but he had his charms. And yes, he is your father."
A biographer of the eccentric artists says the notion of him having an affair that produced a child is "absolutely impossible"
Ms MartĂnez's action is against the Spanish state, to which DalĂ left his estate. If she is confirmed to be his daughter, she could assume his surname and be entitled to part of that estate. But the story of the supposed affair has surprised many - not so much because DalĂ was married in 1955, but because of his complex sexual tastes. And for some, this is why the thought of DalĂ making a woman pregnant seems unlikely. Ian Gibson, an Irish-born biographer of DalĂ, says the idea of the Catalan artist ever having had an orthodox physical relationship with a woman is "absolutely impossible", despite five decades of marriage to Elena Ivanova Diakonova, his Russian wife more commonly known as Gala. "DalĂ always boasted: 'I'm impotent, you've got to be impotent to be a great painter'," the biographer said.
DalĂ's wife, Gala, died in 1982 - after which he is said to have lost much of his zest for life
Salvador DalĂ - Life of a surrealist
* Born on 11 May 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, Spain
* Produced more than 1,500 paintings throughout his career
* Married Elena Ivanovna Diakonova - or Gala - in 1934; they had no children
* The couple had an open marriage and regularly held orgies at their house - though DalĂ is said to have watched rather than participated
* Died 23 January 1989 in Figueres
His close friendship with the gay poet Federico GarcĂa Lorca has fuelled speculation that DalĂ was homosexual, although Ian Gibson believes they never consummated their relationship. Carlos Lozano, who was for a time part of the painter's inner circle, told the biographer that "DalĂ was totally unable to have any sexual relations with anybody, not even, probably, with Gala... He hated being touched and when he touched you it was like being clawed by an eagle."
'A great voyeur'
