MADRID, June 26 (Xinhua) -- A judge in the Spanish capital city of Madrid on Monday ordered the body of famous Spanish artist, Salvador Dali, to be exhumed in order to resolve a long-standing paternity case.
The body of the artist, who died in January 1989, is needed in order to take a DNA sample to determine whether 61-year-old Pilar Abel Martinez really is Dali's daughter, as she claims to be.
In a written conclusion reproduced in the Spanish press, the judge decided the exhumation was needed as: "it is necessary to conduct a biological test... as no biological remains or personal objects exist on which to conduct the test at the National Toxicology Institute."
The next step is for a court in Figueres, northeast Spain, where Dali is buried, to instruct a forensic scientist to take samples from Dali's remains in order to extract DNA which can then be compared to that of Abel Martinez.
The woman claiming to be Dali's secret daughter was born in Figueres in 1956 and has been claiming the artist is her father since 2007, explaining her mother had an affair with Dali while working on the Costa Brava, before then marrying another man.
If Abel Martinez is proved to be the daughter of Dali, under Spanish law, she would be allowed to use his surname and be entitled to a share of his estate and copyright royalties.
