Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci
Statue at the Uffizi, Florence
Born	(1451-03-09)March 9, 1451 Florence, Republic of Florence
Died	February 22, 1512(1512-02-22) (aged 60) Seville, Crown of Castile
Nationality	Italian
Other names	Américo Vespucio [es] Americus Vespucius [la]
Occupation(s)	Merchant, explorer, cartographer
Known for	Demonstrating that the New World was not Asia but a previously-unknown fourth continent.[a]

Amerigo Vespucci (9 March 1451^[1]- 22 February 1512) was an Italian merchant, explorer and cartographer. He was the first person to explain that the places discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 were not part of east Asia, but an unknown continent which he called "The New World". America got its name when other cartographers used a feminized and latinized version of his first name, Americus.^[2]

Not much is known of Vespucci's life. Two books were published saying he wrote them. Some letters exist, also saying he wrote them. He visited the New World at least twice, and died of malaria.

1. ↑ The letters of Amerigo Vespucci and other documents illustrative of his career: "We learn from Bandini that Amerigo was the third son of a notary at Florence, named Ser Nastagio (Anastasio) Vespucci, by Lisabetta Mini, and that he was born on March 9th, 1451.".
2. ↑ Arciniegas, Germán. Amerigo and the New World: the life & times of Amerigo Vespucci. Translated by Harriet de Onís. New York: Octagon Books, 1978.