Verrazzano, Giovanni da

born 1485, Tuscany, Italy

died 1528, Lesser Antilles

Italian navigator and explorer for France.

Educated in Florence, he moved to Dieppe, France, where he entered the maritime service. In 1524 he was sent to find a westward passage to Asia and reached North America. He explored the eastern coast from Cape Fear northward and became the first European to explore the sites of present-day New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay. He sailed along the coast to Newfoundland, then returned to France. He later led expeditions to Brazil (1527) and to the Caribbean, where he was killed and eaten by cannibals.

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▪ Italian navigator

Verrazzano also spelled  Verrazano 

born 1485, Tuscany, Italy

died 1528, Lesser Antilles

      Italian navigator and explorer for France who was the first European to sight New York and Narragansett bays.

      After his education in Florence, Verrazzano moved to Dieppe, Fr., and entered that nation's maritime service. He made several voyages to the Levant, and in 1523 he secured two ships for a voyage backed by the French king to discover a westward passage to Asia. In January 1524 he sailed one of those vessels, “La Dauphine,” to the New World and reached Cape Fear about the beginning of March. Verrazzano then sailed northward, exploring the eastern coast of North America. He made several discoveries on the voyage, including the sites of present-day New York Harbor, Block Island, and Narragansett Bay, and was the first European explorer to name newly discovered North American sites after persons and places in the Old World.

      Verrazzano wrote interesting, though sometimes inaccurate, accounts of the lands and inhabitants that he encountered. His explorations concluded at the eastern part of Newfoundland. His return to France on July 8, 1524, gave King Francis I his nation's claim to the New World.

      Verrazzano undertook two more voyages to the Americas. In 1527 he commanded a fleet of ships on an expedition to Brazil that returned profitable dyewood to France. His final voyage began in the spring of 1528, when he sailed with his brother, Girolamo, from Dieppe with two or three ships. The fleet sailed to Florida, the Bahamas, and finally the Lesser Antilles. He anchored there off one of the islands (apparently Guadeloupe), went ashore, and was captured, killed, and eaten by cannibals.

Additional Reading

Lawrence C. Wroth, The Voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano, 1524–1528 (1970).

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