Americus / Amerigo Vespucci, Was America Named for an Italian?

NAMED FOR AN ITALIAN?

Just who was Amerigo (Americus) Vespucci and what did he do to have not one, but two continents named after him?

Vespucci was born, raised and educated in Florence, Italy -- at one time he even studied with Michaelangelo! He worked as a merchant and banker, and went to Spain in 1492, the same year his fellow Italian, Christopher Columbus, reached the New World. Vespucci became the director of a company that supplied ships for long voyages, and eventually made his own expedition in 1499. He explored the mouth of the Amazon River and charted the coast of Venezuela. He was able to determine that the lands Columbus “discovered” were not part of Asia, but were in fact a separate continent. (Right up until his death, Columbus was convinced he had reached Asia.) In letters home, Vespucci described everything he saw, including the indigenous people and their religion. These letters were translated again and again, and it seems that everyone in Europe was aware of these discoveries.

Vespucci can thank a German clergyman, Martin Waldseemuller, for naming these vast regions “America.” Waldseemuller was working on a map of the world, and after reading of Vespucci’s adventures he printed a map with “America” written across the new continents. Hundreds of these maps were printed and distributed throughout Europe. The name stuck, and when Gerardus Mercator printed his World Map in 1538, the continents were named North America and South America.