‘It’s my right to know who I am’ says alleged daughter of painter Salvador Dalí

As part of her efforts to prove she is the biological daughter of Catalan painter Salvador Dalí, Pilar Abel will on Tuesday undergo DNA tests at the Institute for Toxicology in Madrid.

Her personal battle also obliges her 87-year-old mother to undergo the same tests, while the remains of the artist, who is buried in the Theater-Museum of Figueres, are also to be exhumed.

The Foundation Gala-Salvador Dalí, which oversees the artist’s estate, has already lodged an appeal to prevent the opening of the painter’s grave to take DNA samples. Yet, Abel insists “it’s my right to know who I am; I am not going against anybody,” and she stresses she is not motivated by financial motives but merely wants to bring an end to litigation that has gone on for more than 10 years.

It is hoped that the genetic tests will clarify whether Abel is genuinely Dali’s daughter. The Figueres inhabitant was born on February 1, 1956, and she maintains that she is a biological daughter of the genius of surrealism. Abel claims her mother and the painter had a secret relationship when her mother worked as a home assistant in Cadaqués for some of Dali’s family friends. Everything was kept secret until her paternal grandmother confessed to her that she was in fact the artist’s daughter, something Abel’s mother confirmed. “I fight for my mother, she gives me strength,” she insisted.