Vespucci explorer biography
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Amerigo Vespucci - Italian Explorer
Amerigo Vespucci was an Italian explorer, cartographer and navigator, best known for naming the North American continent with a slight variation of his first name and for proving the fact that New World is not part of an Asia but a new continent.
He was born in Florence, Italy in where he worked for the famous Medici family as a banker. In , he moved to Spain, and few years later in king Manuel I of Portugal invited him to be part of a crew that will explore the Indian Ocean. Historical records of his journeys to the New World are not completely accurate, there is speculation of four but only two are completely verified.
On that journey under the leadership of Captain Alonso de Ojeda flotilla of ships separated in two parts, and Vespucci headed to the west toward the Brazil. There he discovered mouth of the great Amazon River. On a next expedition, he was elected to be a leader and they discovered that land of South America extended far more t
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The Ages of
Exploration
Introduction
Although Christopher Columbus is credited for discovering the “New World,” he always believed he had reached Asia. Amerigo Vespucci, however, actually confirmed that it was not Asia, but instead a separate continent. Because of this, North and South America bear his name. Continents bear feminine names. Europe, named by the Greeks, comes from “Europa.” Asia also comes from Greece, and referred to lands east of their homeland. So sticking with a feminine tradition, “America” is a feminine form eller gestalt of Amerigo.
Biography
Early Life
Amerigo Vespucci was born March 9, in Florence, Italy to Nastagio and Lisabetta Vespucci. His father was a notary in the Florence government. The Vespucci family was well-connected, and Amerigo received an excellent education by his uncle Giorgio Antonio. He became fluent in several languages, and had much interest in cartography, astronomy, and navigation techniques. Giorgio was also a teacher to
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Amerigo Vespucci
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Who Was Amerigo Vespucci?
On May 10, , explorer Amerigo Vespucci embarked on his first voyage. On his third and most successful voyage, he discovered present-day Rio de Janeiro and Rio de la Plata. Believing he had discovered a new continent, he called South America the New World. In , America was named after him. He died of malaria in Seville, Spain, on February 22,
Early Life
Navigator and explorer Amerigo Vespucci, the third son in a cultured family, was born on March 9, , (some scholars say ) in Florence, Italy. Although born in Italy, Vespucci became a naturalized citizen of Spain in
Vespucci and his parents, Ser Nastagio and Lisabetta Mini, were friends of the wealthy and tempestuous Medici family, who ruled Italy from the s to Vespucci's father worked as a notary in Florence. While his older brothers headed off to the University of Pisa in Tuscany, Vespucci received his early education from his paternal uncle, a Dominican friar named Giorgio An