Pablo Picasso is one of the most influential great artists of the 20th century. He was born on October 25, 1881 in Malaga, Spain, the first born child of Don José Ruiz y Blasco (1838–1913) and María Picasso y López. His full name is a combination of 23 different names in honor of various relatives an Catholic saints. Picasso was baptized as “Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso.”
Picasso's birth was a very difficult one. When he was born, he was so weak, the midwife actually proclaimed him stillborn as she walked away from him to tend to his mother. His doctor uncle, Don Salvador, is credited with saving his life. Like many doctors at the time, he smoked cigars. Upon blowing cigar smoke in the newborn Picasso's face, the baby immediately began to breathe, gasping for breath and then...
