(1454–1512). Even though Christopher Columbus beat Amerigo Vespucci to the New World, the Americas took their name from the later explorer. As a navigator on at least two voyages, Vespucci helped his ships get to what is now South America. He was one of the first people to realize that the New World was not part of Asia.

Early life

Amerigo Vespucci was born in 1454 in Florence, Italy. He was the son of a respectable public clerk. As a boy he studied many subjects with his uncle. His family connections later got him work as a businessman in Spain.

Career

In Seville, Spain, Vespucci helped to prepare ships for two of Columbus' voyages. He probably met Columbus, too.

In 1499 Vespucci set sail on a voyage paid for by Spain. On that trip he led the ships to the northeastern coast of South America. In 1501 he took another voyage, this time under the flag of Portugal. He explored the coast of what is now Brazil. Vespucci may have made another voyage two years later.

Vespucci wrote about his travels in letters. He described the New World as a separate continent—not part of India, as Columbus had first thought. His letters were later printed in different languages. They helped to spread the idea of a new continent west of Europe.

After his return to Spain Vespucci gained the important job of master navigator. He helped to make maps of Spanish voyages to the New World and of the lands discovered there.

Death and legacy

Vespucci died in 1512 in Spain. His name became famous when a German mapmaker used it in 1507. The mapmaker had read Vespucci's letters. When he created a new map of the world he put the name America—a form of Vespucci's first name—on the land now known as South America. Despite Columbus' earlier and more famous voyages to the New World, Vespucci's name stuck. Later mapmakers used it for North America, too.