Amerigo Vespucci

A native of Florence, Amerigo Vespucci was a professional banker sent by the Medici family to manage their business operations in Seville. At Seville Vespucci actively participated in the preparation of ships for the Columbus’s expeditions. Later he claimed that during these years he participated in four voyages to the New World, two in service of the Spaniards and two in service of the Portuguese. However, most likely he participated in only two voyages.

During the first trip, 1499-1500 under the command of Alonso de Ojeda Vespucci visited north coast of Brazil, Trinidad and Haiti. On the second voyage, 1501-1502 commanded by Gonçalo Coelho he returned to Brazil, named Salvador and the site of Rio de Janeiro. It is even possible that he observed the Rio de la Plata and parts of Patagonia. Interestingly, Vespuci was the first person to propose that the Americas were not part of Asia, but a new continent. It was his narrative of these voyages that inspired the German cartographer Waldseemüller to give the name America to the new continent.

In 1505 Vespucci was appointed at the post of the navigation officer of the House of Trade in Seville which he held until his death. It was a demanding office considering that his duties included the examination of the pilots’ and ships’ masters’ licenses for voyages and preparation the official map of newly discovered land and routes.