Spanish naturalized Italian navigator (1454-1512). Responsible for the logistics of Colombo's vessels and pioneer of navigation on the American coast.
Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) is born in Florence. He is well educated in Pisa, under the care of a Dominican uncle, and in France, where he deepens his knowledge of geography, astronomy and cosmography. Back in Italy, he works at the Medici Family bank. He is transferred in 1491 to the branch in Seville, Spain, where he equips ships to face long journeys under the leadership of Gianotto Berardi. It is Vespucci who prepares the vessels for all expeditions of Christopher Columbus. In 1497, after Berardi's death, Vespucci takes command of the Seville branch and embarks on his first voyage. The destination is the Indies, however it ends in Florida, in territory that now belongs to the United States. In the second mission, between 1499 and 1500, it reaches the coast of South America, but imagines that it is sailing the far east of Asia. Only in the 1501 voyage, which began in Portugal, did Vespucci convince himself that the lands are not part of the Asian coast, but are a hitherto unknown continent - a New World, named after him. In 1508 is named major pilot of Spain. Dies in Seville.