- Title: Dali's alleged daughter says exhumation brings her peace
- Date: 20th July 2017
- Summary: MADRID, SPAIN (JULY 20, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PILAR ABEL TALKING ON THE PHONE IN HOTEL LOBBY AS SHE WAITS TO BE INTERVIEWED BY MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SALVADOR DALI'S ALLEGED DAUGHTER, PILAR ABEL, SAYING: "I feel at peace. It's strange, but I feel at peace. Yes, it's peace. Emotion, peace. I don't have words. I can't express it. It's something I have inside, here, and I can't get rid of it, you understand? It's spiritual peace. I will have peace when I get the results. But I will continue to go forward, whether it is a yes or a no, for sure." VARIOUS OF ABEL ON THE PHONE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) SALVADOR DALI'S ALLEGED DAUGHTER, PILAR ABEL, SAYING: "I want everyone to know I feel calm and positive. It's spiritual peace yes. I am also a bit sad, you understand, but it's normal. I have been fighting this for 11 years. I have had lawyers who served me badly, three DNA tests have been inconclusive and suddenly a Spanish government gives me trust, a lawyer and then a judge who hands a verdict that I can have my identity. This is marvellous. It's the best that could happen to me and my mother. No words. I can't say more."
- Embargoed: 3rd August 2017 20:23
- Keywords: Salvador Dali paternity test exhumation The Persistence of Memory Gala Pilar Abel Dali's alleged daughter grave
- Location: MADRID AND BARCELONA, SPAIN, PARIS, FRANCE AND NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- City: MADRID AND BARCELONA, SPAIN, PARIS, FRANCE AND NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
- Country: Spain
- Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Judicial Process/Court Cases/Court Decisions
- Reuters ID: LVA0016QIWKZR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS CONVERTED 4:3 MATERIAL
Pilar Abel, who claims she is the daughter of Salvador Dali, said on Thursday (June 20) she was overcome by a feeling of peace as the exhumation of the artist remain's got underway in Figueras, northeastern Spain.
Forensic scientists and legal experts began taking DNA samples from the embalmed body of Spanish surrealist artist after 20:00 local time (18:00 GMT) to try to resolve a paternity claim.
Abel, who was born in 1956 in the northern Spanish town of Figueras - Dali's home town and the place he is buried - claims her mother had an affair with the painter and has been trying to prove she is his daughter for years.
Dali's remains are interred in a crypt under the stage of the domed Theatre-Museum in Figueras, which houses some of his art works and paintings he collected.
It may take weeks before the results of the DNA tests are known. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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