Remains Of Salvador Dali To Be Exhumed To Settle Paternity Claim

On Monday, the Madrid Supreme Court ordered that the remains of Salvador Dali be exhumed to settle an ongoing paternity claim against the legendary Spanish surrealist artist. The court’s decision follows a claim from Pilar Abel Martínez that she is, in fact, Dali’s biological daughter

Martínez was born in 1956, and her family claims that Salvador Dali and her mother, a maid, had previously engaged in extramarital sexual relations, resulting in her conception. The paternity claim brought by the woman and her family against the estate of Dali has been ongoing since 2007, reports CNN.

According to the Spanish high court, there is simply no other way to resolve the paternity claim of Pilar Abel Martínez, who is seeking to be legally recognized as the daughter of Salvador Dali. The court’s Monday ruling explained that Dali must be exhumed because of the “lack of other biological or personal remains with which to compare” to the DNA of the woman in question.

The purpose of the planned exhumation of the lauded Spanish artist is to obtain tissue and/or other sample containing Dali’s DAN for the express purpose of proving or disproving whether or not he is indeed Martínez’s biological father as she and her family claim.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LU9_hPyNGQ

As BBC reports, Ms. Martínez has stated that her mother repeatedly told her that Salvador Dali was her biological father, and she even claims to resemble the late artist.

“The only thing I’m missing is a moustache.”

Reportedly, her mother Antonia had worked as a maid for a family that resided or spent time near the Dali home in Cadaqués. It was then that she and Dali allegedly engaged in an extramarital affair, an affair that ended by 1955 when Antonia abruptly quit her job, moved away, and married someone else.

Pilar Abel Martínez was born in 1956.

In 2007, Martínez (who works as a tarot card reader) reportedly submitted to two DNA tests to prove her paternity, but claims never to have received the test results. It has been rumored that there wasn’t enough of Dali’s DNA available to get an adequate sample for comparison.

No official date has been set for the remains of Salvador Dali to be exhumed, but according to a legal representative for Pilar Abel Martínez, the historic undertaking could take place as soon as July. But not if the Salvador Dali Foundation has anything to say about it. The Foundation has announced in a statement that it fully intends to appeal the court’s decision, likely within the next few days.

I think SalvadorDali would be thrilled that his remains are being exhumed..

— 860ford-ish?? (@860Ford) June 26, 2017

“Given the content of the decision taken by the Court of Instance No. 11 of Madrid on June 20, 2017, by means of which the exhumation of the remains of Salvador Dalí is ordered to allow the biological investigation of Pilar Abel’s paternity research, The Dalí Foundation is preparing an appeal to oppose this exhumation that will be lodged in the coming days.”

Officially, Ms. Martínez’s lawsuit has been filed against the Spanish State, which was bequeathed the Dali estate by the late artist. If after Salvador Dali is exhumed a DNA test proves that she is his daughter, Martínez could both use the Dali name and even be entitled to part of his impressive estate — if she files the appropriate legal requests with the Spanish government.

Salvador Dali was born in 1904 in Figueres, Spain and passed away in the same city in 1989. Dali was laid to rest in a museum and theater that he designed in Figueres. At the tie of the alleged affair that may have resulted in the conception of Pilar Abel Martínez, Salvador Dali was married to his wife, Gala, the woman he called his muse. Dali and Gala were married in 1934 and never had children.

[Featured Image by File/AP Photo]