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Antonio Pigafetta
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Image:Pigafetta.jpg thumb|170px|'''Antonio Pigafetta''' (ca. [[1491 - ca.
1534).]]
'''Antonio Pigafetta''' (ca.
1491 - ca.
1534), was an
Italy Italian navigator born in
Vicenza. He paid a large sum of money to accompany and assist the Portuguese captain
Ferdinand Magellan and his Spanish crew on their trip around the world. He kept an accurate journal of the trip, which later assisted him in translating the foreign
Languages of the Philippines Philippine language. It is the first-ever document concerning this language.
Of some 260 men who set out with Magellan in
1519, Pigafetta was one of only 18 who returned to
Spain in
1522, having completed the
circumnavigation.
His journal is the source for most of what we know about Magellan's voyage.
Youth
Pigafetta belonged to a rich family of
Vicenza. In his youth he studied
astronomy,
geography and
cartography. He served on board the galleys of the
Knights of Rhodes at the beginning of
16th century. Until 1519, he accompanied the
papal nuncio, Monsignor Chieregati, to Spain.
Voyage
In
Seville, he heard of the trip of Magellan, and negotiated to be admitted as a paying passenger. In spite of initial difficulties with Magellan, he managed to gain his confidence and served as his ''lenguaraz'' (translator) and cartographer.
During the trip, Pigafetta collected numerous data about geography, the climate, the flora, the fauna, and the inhabitants of the places that the expedition visited; his meticulous notes were to serve as invaluable documents to future explorers and cartographers, mainly due to his inclusion of nautical and linguistic data.
Return
In the battle in which Magellan was killed in
Mactan, Philippines, Pigafetta was wounded. Nevertheless, he managed to recover and was among the 17 on board the ''Victoria'', who accompanied
Juan Sebastián Elcano on the return voyage to Spain.
Upon reaching port in
Sanlúcar de Barrameda (
Province of Cadiz) in September of 1522, three years after his departure, Pigafetta returned to Italy. He related his experiences in ''Relazione del Primo Viaggio Intorno Al Mondo'' (Relations of the First Voyage Around the World), composed in
Italian language Italian. It was published in
Paris in
1525 and was not wholly published until the late eighteenth century. The original document, regrettably, is not preserved.
It was through the earlier account written by
Maximilianus Transylvanus, published in
1523, however, that Europeans learned of the first circumnavigation of the globe. As Secretary to
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, Transylvanus had been instructed to interview the survivors of the voyage when Magellan’s surviving ship ''Victoria'' returned to Spain in September 1522.
Pigafetta was made a
Knights Hospitaller Knight of Malta.
He died in his native city in
1534.
External reference
*{{it icon}} [http://www.liberliber.it/biblioteca/p/pigafetta/relazione_del_primo_viaggio_intorno_al_mondo/relazion.zip Zip Text of ''Relazione'']
{{Italy-bio-stub}}
Category:1490s births Pigafetta
Category:1530s deaths Pigafetta
Category:Italian explorers Pigafetta
Category:Explorers of the Pacific Pigafetta
Category:Natives of Vicenza Pigafetta
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fr:Antonio Pigafetta
ko:안토니오 피가페타
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