London/ Paris: Dali is buried in his eponymous museum in Figueras, a city in the northeastern region of Catalonia where he died in January 1989 of heart failure after a life marked by the genius of his work and his own eccentricities and extravagances.
On Monday, a Madrid court statement said that tests with DNA from Dali's embalmed body were necessary because of a paternal suit that had been filed and there were no other existing biological remains with which to make a genetic comparison.
The woman, who claims to be his daughter is Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, who was born in 1956. Abel says her mother, a maid, had a clandestine affair with the painter in 1955. She claims to be a psychic.
Abel's court litigation started in 2015 when she sued the Ministry of Finance, as the trustee of Dali's estate, and the Gala Dali Foundation that was created to administer it.
If there's a match, Abel could use Dali as her surname and pursue further legal action to claim her rights over the artist's work and property, which according to regional laws could amount to 25 percent of all of the estate.
The Gala Dali Foundation will appeal Monday's decision, foundation spokeswoman Imma Parada said in an e-mailed statement.
But according to Blanquez, the appeal could not immediately stop the exhuming of Dali's remains.
The decision to dig up the remains of surrealist artist Salvador Dali, ordered by a Madrid court on Monday, will lead to the latest high-profile exhumation to settle a paternity claim.
But it is not the only one, below we list a few examples from recent history:
French crooner Yves Montand: The remains of the popular French singer and film star, who died in 1991, were dug up in March 1998 at Paris's Pere-Lachaise cemetery after a long legal battle. A 22-year-old woman, Aurore Drossart, sought to prove that she was his daughter; DNA tests showed this was not the case.
Argentine icon Juan Peron: The remains of the populist leader, who served three terms as president of Argentina, were exhumed in October 2006, 32 years after his death. A 72-year-old woman, Martha Holgado, claimed to be his daughter. DNA tests showed that she was not.
Chess legend Bobby Fischer: Fischer's remains were exhumed in July 2010 in his adopted country Iceland to establish if nine-year-old Jinky Young from the Philippines is his daughter, as the girl's mother claims in a row over his estate. Test results submitted to a tribunal in Reykjavik showed Fischer, who died in 2008 aged 64, was not the father.
F1 champion Fangio: The body of five-time Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio was exhumed in August 2015 in his native Argentina to settle a paternity dispute two decades after his death at age 84. Two men, Oscar Espinoza and Ruben Vazquez who brought separate cases claiming Fangio was their father were found via DNA to be his sons, according to the Argentine media in 2015 and 2016.
