The results of the exhumation of El Salvador have been given. The exhumation of Salvador Dali's body showed that the famous mustache retained its shape

The body of painter Salvador Dali was exhumed on the evening of July 20 to take a DNA sample to settle a paternity case.

Samples for the test were taken from the artist's teeth, bones and nails during a four-hour operation. The exhumation took place as a result of a court order - the request of Maria Pilar Abel Martinez was satisfied, who claims that her mother had an affair with the artist, and she herself is his daughter.
If she turns out to be right, she will be able to lay claim to Dali's inheritance, currently owned by the Spanish state.

The surrealist artist, who died in 1989 aged 85, was buried in a crypt at a museum dedicated to his life and work in Figueres, north-east Spain.

On Thursday evening, shortly before the exhumation, a crowd gathered outside the museum to watch police escort experts into the building. As soon as the last visitors of the day left the museum, the 1.5-ton stone slab that lies over Dalí's grave was lifted so that experts could reach the artist's body.

Experts who exhumed Salvador Dali's body to take samples have said the mystery artist's mustache still graces his face nearly three decades after his death.

Narcisse Bardalet, an embalmer who cared for Dali's body after his death in 1989 and helped with the exhumation process, said he was delighted to see the surrealist's most recognizable feature again.

The exhumation took place despite the objections of local authorities and the Dali Foundation, who argued that there were insufficient reasons for this.

Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, a tarot card reader born in 1956, says her mother Antonia had an affair with Dalí for a year before Abel was born. Her mother worked for a family who spent time in Cadaques, not far from the artist's home.

Last month, a Madrid judge ordered a settlement brought by the woman. The lawsuit is being disputed by the Dalí Foundation, which manages the estate of the artist, who had no children.

Pilar Abel says her mother and paternal grandmother told her early age that Dali was her real father. But the claim has surprised many, including Ian Gibson, Dalí's Irish biographer, who believes it is simply impossible. “Dali always boasted that he was impotent and that you had to be impotent to become a great artist,” the biographer said.

Pilar Abel has been trying to prove her origins for the last 10 years and says the physical resemblance to the surrealist artist is so strong that "the only thing missing is a mustache."

In 2007, she was allowed to try to extract DNA from traces of skin and hair found on Dali's funeral mask. However, the results were inconclusive. Another attempt at DNA testing was made later that year, using material provided by the artist's friend and biographer Robert Descharnes.

Although Abel claimed that she never received the results of the second test, in 2008 Desharnes' son Nicolas told the Spanish news agency Efe that he learned from the doctor who carried out the tests that they were negative.

results last test DNA is expected in one to two months. After testing the samples, they will be returned to Dali's grave.

FIGUERES (Spain), July 21 - RIA Novosti, Elena Shesternina. In the Salvador Dali Theater and Museum in the Catalan city of Figueres, nothing any longer reminds of the stormy night events that took place here the day before. Most tourists who enter the museum building do not even suspect that half a day ago experts exhumed the body of the great surrealist, who unexpectedly discovered an “illegitimate daughter”, Pilar Abel Martinez.

In June, a Madrid court granted the request of this woman, who makes a living by predicting the future and solving problems by removing damage, to exhume the body of Salvador Dali for DNA tests. Despite attempts by the Gala Salvador Dali Foundation and the mayor's office of Figueres to cancel or at least delay the exhumation, it was carried out.

At 09.00 on Friday - strictly according to schedule - the museum was opened to visitors. Tourists calmly walk on the slab, under which the master’s body rests at a depth of two meters - exactly as Dali himself bequeathed - “so that people could walk on his grave.” The glass dome over the grave, contrary to plans, was not closed during the exhumation. And so that no one had plans to remove the exhumation procedure from a drone through glass - which was what the museum feared - two tents were put up for the duration of the work - one over the grave, the second over the place where the specialists were working. The tents were removed for the opening of the museum.

A group of French tourists approaches the building of the house-museum. “Yes, I heard that the body was exhumed today and I find this unacceptable. I am a big fan of Dali, I came here for the second time. Disturbing the remains of the deceased and also because of some strange woman who has no evidence that Dali father? Is that possible?" Isabel is indignant.

The mayor of the city of Figueres, Marta Felip, in an interview with RIA Novosti, admitted that all this fuss about the exhumation local residents was received with great pain. “We could never in our lives think about such a situation. The exhumation of the deceased is something very intimate, but here honor, memory and respect were literally invaded. This could have been avoided. There were other ways to solve the problem of “paternity.” But it’s been three weeks now ago we understood that exhumation was inevitable,” the mayor said.

However, the mayor does not lose optimism and hopes that thanks to this situation everything more people people from all over the world will find out exactly where Dali is buried and come to Figueres. “What happened, happened. This is the court’s decision. We complied with it. Every cloud has a silver lining. We have a chance to remind everyone once again where Dali’s grave is and where his museum is,” said Marta Felip.

The museum is also unhappy with the exhumation. The management tried to challenge the decision of the Madrid court, but they did not have time to consider the claim, and the Fund had to come to terms. “This should not have happened. For each of us who works at the museum, this is a personal tragedy,” says a museum employee who did not want to give her name.

The “seer’s” lawyer Enrique Blanques, in a conversation with a RIA Novosti correspondent, suggested that the results of DNA tests (and they will be carried out at the Institute of Toxicology in Madrid) will become known in two weeks. The museum's management is more cautious, believing that since August is a holiday period in Spain, there is no need to expect results before September.

If the results of the analysis do not confirm that Pilar Abel is Dali's daughter, the story will not end there. The lawyer is going to question the reliability and thoroughness of the examination. Blanques assured that “if the specialists manage to prove that there were no errors in the procedure, then the litigation will be terminated.”

Meanwhile, the museum's management said that in the event of a negative test result, "it will take appropriate action to bring to justice those who caused significant damage and material costs for the exhumation," the Dalí Foundation said in a statement. They are confident that “there is no indication that the plaintiff’s claims have any basis.” “The only thing she presented was a notarized statement from one lady, who says that she is a friend of her mother, and who claims that she allegedly told her that the father of her daughter was Dali,” the head of the Gala Foundation said at a press conference. Salvador Dali" Juan Manuel Sevillano.

If experts establish that Dali really biological father Pilar Abel, then Spain will face new trials. By law, a direct heir could claim 25% of the artist’s fortune, who had no legitimate children. About what amount exactly? we're talking about, no one can say for sure now. In 1989, Dali's legacy was estimated at $136 million, since then the amount has increased several times. According to some estimates, Abel could claim 300 million. Most of Dali's inheritance belongs to the Spanish state - hundreds of paintings, as well as the artist's property in Catalonia. The Dali Foundation says that if the inheritance trial takes place, he will not participate in it. “Pilar Abel could theoretically claim 25% of the inheritance, but this would be a claim not against the Foundation, but against the Spanish state. The Foundation will not be involved in this process,” said Foundation lawyer Albert Segura.

The seer's lawyer, Enrique Blanques, claims that Pilar Abel is not interested in money at all, but in establishing the truth. “No, she’s not doing this for money. She gives interviews for free. Her mother told her that she was Dali’s daughter when Abel was little,” the lawyer recalled. However, according to another version, which was previously repeatedly voiced by the “seer,” another woman, her paternal grandmother, was the first to tell her about her “real father.” “I know that you are not my son’s daughter, you are from a great artist, but I still love you,” said the grandmother, adding that she is “as strange as her father (meaning Dali - ed.)” states the "soothsayer".

The “seer” has already passed her DNA tests. Next up are tests for her mother, 87-year-old Antonia Martinez de Haro, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease.

It was previously reported that during the exhumation, “samples of two large bones, hair and nails” of the artist were taken. It was noted that his body was well preserved thanks to embalming."Therefore famous mustache kept their shape,” “it was a very emotional moment,” said Luis Peñuelas, general director of the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation.

The trial, which will finally decide whether Dali was the father of Pilar Abel, will take place on September 18.

Maria Pilar Abel Martinez has been trying for ten years to prove that she is the artist's biological daughter. This summer the story reached its climax. The court ordered the exhumation of the remains and a DNA test. The results were negative.

Who is Pilar Abel

According to the newspaper El Pais, Maria Pilar Abel Martinez is a 61-year-old clairvoyant from Girona, Spain. For more than eight years she acted as a fortune teller in a program on local television. The town of Girona is just an hour's drive from Figueres, where Salvador Dali was born and raised.

According to Abel Martinez, she first heard that Dali was her father from her grandmother. One day she told her: “I know that you are not the daughter of my son and that you are the daughter of a great artist, but I love you just as much.” In addition, Abel claimed that when her grandmother scolded her, she often said: “You are strange, just like your father.”

In the 50s, according to Abel, her mother worked as a maid in Port Lligat. Nearby, the Dali family had a house, which later became the artist’s museum. Abel claims that Antonia worked for Dali’s friends, whom the artist often visited.

Pilar Abel was born on February 1, 1956. Even before this, the mother left the village and married another man. However, according to Abel, she was born precisely after secret relationship the artist and her mother Antonia in 1955.

At that time, Salvador Dali had already been living in a civil marriage with his future wife Gala (nee Elena Dyakonova) for two decades. Their official wedding took place only in 1958. The couple had no children.

Exchange of claims

Salvador Dalí died in Figueres in 1989 at the age of 84. The artist bequeathed to bury himself so that people could walk on his grave. That is why Dali’s remains were walled up under the floor of his theater-museum in Figueres.

However, the artist left no biological samples on which to conduct analysis. In 2007, Pilar already tried to conduct a DNA study to establish paternity. Then the material for the examination was the remains of skin and hair that were preserved in Dali’s plaster death mask.

This mask was provided by Salvador Dali's friend and biographer Robert Descharnes. But, as Abel states, she never received these tests, because their transfer was blocked by the Dali Foundation, which controls and manages the master’s entire inheritance.

However, back in 2008, in an interview with the Spanish agency EFE, Desharnes' son Nicolas said that the doctor who conducted the paternity test told him that the test result was negative.

In 2015, Abel filed a lawsuit against the Spanish Ministry of Finance and the Gala and Salvador Dali Foundation. On June 26, 2017, a Madrid court ordered the exhumation of the artist's body.

And again a fiasco

If the test results were positive, Pilar Abel could claim to bear the surname of the great painter. Also, a woman could claim a quarter of Dali’s inheritance and copyrights to his works.

During his life, the artist, who is considered one of the most famous representatives surrealism, created over a hundred works. The most expensive on this moment his painting is a portrait of Paul Eluard. This work was sold at Sotheby's for $22 million in 2011.

On July 20, Dali's remains were exhumed. For analysis, samples of hair, nails, teeth were taken, and two long bones were also extracted. However, a DNA test showed that Pilar Abel is not the painter’s daughter. The woman herself intends to challenge this decision. She noted that she “doesn’t trust the storage network” for DNA samples.

At the same time, at a meeting on September 18, the Madrid court confirmed the results of the genetic examination. And the Spanish prosecutor's office petitioned to recover legal costs from Pilar Abel. The prosecution stated that the woman’s behavior was “capricious and unreasonable,” as well as the doubts she expressed to the Institute of Toxicology about the error of the DNA test results.

The prosecutor's office will consider the request next week. The verdict will be announced then.

Timur Fekhretdinov

Soon there will be an end to the high-profile story that has been exciting Spain for several years - whether the great surrealist Salvodor Dali has an heir, or rather an heiress. In Figueres, in the house-museum of the eccentric artist, his remains were exhumed in order to take DNA samples, the court ruled.

For many years it was believed that Dali had no descendants, but now a woman was found who claims that she is his illegitimate daughter. While waiting for the results, the local press calculated what kind of inheritance this lady could count on if everything was confirmed.

The forensic procedure takes place in an absolutely surreal spirit. The remains of Salvador Dali are exhumed in front of a huge press gathering. But not a single shot will be taken inside the museum. Forbidden. Even the glass dome was covered with fabric to prevent the body from being removed by drones. Journalists and tourists chatter: “I wonder how his famous mustache is?” Completely surreal.

“Let's not discuss such details. As the mayor of the city, I was present at the procedure. I can only say that the remains of Salvador Dali are in satisfactory condition,” said the mayor of Figueres, Marta Felip.

The great artist seemed to have foreseen: last sleep, caused by the flight of a bumblebee around a pomegranate, will sooner or later be disturbed. He bequeathed not to bury his body. Dali was buried in the building of his personal theater-museum under a multi-ton steel slab. Tonight she was moved for Pilar Abel Martinez.

“I have a chance to learn the main thing about myself, to essentially understand who I am. It is wonderful! This is the best thing that could have happened to me and my mother. There are no words!" - she says.

Pilar Abel Martinez insists: she is the illegitimate daughter of Salvador Dali. His mother worked as a maid in the house where the artist lived, and everything started to happen: courts, three DNA examinations, based on particles taken from death mask artist. Fiasco... Something external resemblance, of course, you can find it. But Dali never mentioned possible daughter. Pilar Abel Martinez herself is better known as a soothsayer. Love spell, lapel, vow of celibacy. Either she's a swindler, or she's just like her father - extravagant.

“I want everyone to know I feel calm and positive. Yes, I have peace in my soul. For eleven years I searched for the truth,” says Pilar Abel Martinez.

The man who embalmed Salvador Dali's body was present at the exhumation today. He fears the formaldehyde he used 28 years ago may have damaged his DNA.

“Apparently, experts will work with material from the artist’s large bones and teeth. All this will be taken for research in Madrid, to the Institute of Toxicology,” explains Narcisse Bardalet.

The result of the DNA test will be announced at the court hearing on September 18. If it is confirmed that Salvador Dali was indeed the father of Pilar Abel Martinez, the woman will be able to claim a quarter of the artist’s inheritance - 300 million euros.

On July 20, the remains of Salvador Dali, one of the most famous representatives of surrealism, were exhumed: a 61-year-old Spanish fortune teller, believing that she is the artist’s illegitimate daughter, obtained an examination to establish paternity.

DNA samples were needed for the examination. The first examination was carried out back in 2007, using the skin and hair of Dali’s death mask. However, the test results were inconclusive. A repeat test was made on the basis of material taken from the nasal feeding tubes that Dali was inserted in the hospital after the fire at Pubol Castle, but this too did not give satisfactory results.

In 2015, Pilar Abel asked a Madrid court to allow her to exhume the remains of Salvador Dalí to confirm his paternity. On June 27, 2017, the court decided to exhume the body of Salvador Dali.

The court said this was necessary because there was no other material available to make the comparison.

It is planned to extract DNA samples from the artist’s tissues and compare them with samples of the alleged daughter. This is a rather difficult task, but quite realistic: the oldest human remains from which DNA could be extracted were about 2 thousand years old, and Dali’s body lay in the coffin for only 28 years. The best “candidates” for searching for DNA are teeth and bones, from soft tissues that quickly deteriorate after death and would be difficult to extract.

"Humidity and environment, as a rule, have a destructive effect,” explains Rina Moore, professor of forensic medicine. - As well as embalming methods. Any chemical substances", used in this process may adversely affect the integrity of the DNA."

Teeth are ideal for analysis due to their enamel, which protects the cells inside from external factors. In addition, several of Dali's teeth do not sit too firmly in the gum, so it would be possible to remove them without damaging the jaw.

When the remains were recovered, all those present noted that Dali’s famous mustache was perfectly preserved and kept its shape. Narcis Bardale, who embalmed Dalí's body in 1989, called it a miracle.

However, for scientists who regularly deal with corpses, there is nothing miraculous in such preservation of vegetation. “Human remains placed in an airtight storage facility, such as a coffin or crypt, can retain hair for very long periods of time,” says anthropologist Tiffany Saul. - And even after exposure external environment they often persist for many years after death.”

“It was quite likely that Dali’s mustache would remain intact,” confirms forensic scientist George Schiro. — Hair consists mainly of keratin protein, which is quite strong. It can even withstand digestive enzymes.”

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However, hair can still decompose. The main culprit for this is fungus. “If conditions are not optimal for fungal growth, such as being too hot or too cold, the hair will persist for a long time,” explains Saul. The rate of decomposition will depend on what the body is exposed to, says professor of forensic medicine Rina Roy, emphasizing that there is no exact answer. Evidence of this is, for example, a remarkably preserved beard, the remains of which were recently discovered in eastern Turkey, and even in the famous Ötzi mummies, despite its venerable age, more than 5 thousand years, several strands of hair have been preserved.

But what neither hair nor nails, contrary to popular belief, can do is grow.

After death human body loses moisture, causing part of the hair or nail that was previously hidden under the skin to become visible. Glucose is necessary for the growth of hair and nails, but after death it is not produced and the body is not able to produce new cells. And the hormonal mechanisms that influence growth no longer fulfill their function.