DNA proves Salvador Dali is not fortuneteller’s father

By Alyssa McMurtry

MADRID (AA) - DNA evidence has proven that famous Spanish artist Salvador Dali is not the father of Maria Pilar Abel Martinez, according to the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation on Wednesday.

After conducting court-ordered DNA tests on Dali’s corpse, which was exhumed from a museum floor in July, the foundation said scientists had concluded that the artist was not the father of Abel Martinez, a Spanish woman who alleges her mother had a secret affair with Dali in 1955.

In a statement, the foundation said it was "pleased that this verdict puts an end to an absurd and fake controversy".

A Spanish court ordered the exhumation and DNA test in June after hearing evidence presented by Abel Martinez, who worked for eight years on a local TV network reading tarot cards and had been fighting the case since 2007.

In the statement, the foundation expressed its discontent with the entire event of exhumation.

"This conclusion comes as no surprise to the Foundation, since at no time has there been any evidence of the veracity of an alleged paternity," the statement said.