Amerigo Vespucci

Amerigo Vespucci

   Amerigo Vespucci, or Americus Vespucius, was an Italian navigator, eponym of the New World; born in Florence, Italy, March 9, 1451. The exact date of bis voyage has been disputed for centuries. According to one account he reached South America in June, 1497. His Letters (1502), giving an account of his voyages, especially of the voyage of 1501, were translated into Latin, Italian, French, and German, and were widely circulated. He wrote a diary called The Four Journals, after his fourth voyage. The suggestion to name the newly discovered continent America was first offered by Martin Waldseemüller, of St. Dié in Lorraine, in his work Introduction to Cosmography (1507). Vespucci died at Seville, Spain, February 22, 1512.