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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]
Amerigo Vespucci | |
|---|---|
 Statue at the Uffizi, Florence | |
| Born | March 9, 1451 Florence, Republic of Florence |
| Died | February 22, 1512 (aged 60) |
| 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] |
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.
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