A Spanish court has ordered the exhumation of the body of renowned artist Salvador Dali based on a paternity suit filed by a woman who claimed to be his daughter, BBC reported on Monday. The judge in Madrid said since there were no biological remains or personal objects of the artist available, exhumation was necessary to investigate the paternity suit. Dali died in 1989 at the age of 85 and was buried in his hometown, Figueres, in Spain.
Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, a tarot card reader from Spain’s Girona city, claimed that her mother and Dali had a “clandestine affair” in 1955, The Telegraph reported. She said her mother used to work as a maid at a house in Cadaqués, next to Dali’s home. At that time, Dali was married to Gala, with whom he had no children.
The date of the exhumation has not been decided yet, but, it could happen as soon as in July, BBC quoted Martinez’s lawyer as saying. If it is proven that Martinez is Dali’s daughter, she will be entitled to 25% share of his estate that is estimated to be up to €300 million (approximately Rs 2,290 crore), The Independent reported.
Martinez, 61, had first made the claim in 2015. However, she had taken a DNA test in Madrid in 2007 using hair and skin remains that she obtained from a death mask of the painter, The Guardian reported. The results of the test had been inconclusive.
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