Who Was He?

Some have tried to prove he was a Spaniard, others thought he might be Greek, but serious scholars, through years of research, are firmly convinced he was an Italian.

Much has been written about this man and he is known throughout the world. In a few countries they even have a special day to celebrate his accomplishment, but not too many know really know about him.

He had little or no formal education and spoke a native dialect that was never a written language. When later in life he did learn to write; it was not in Italian, but Castilian, then a dialect of Spanish, but now the main spoken language of Spain.

He worked in his father trade as a master weaver and even as a wine buyer for a little shop his father operated. In his early 20's he started to make trips to sea, to nearby lands, perhaps to buy the wool and wine for his father.

His brother was a mapmaker and for awhile he learned a little of that trade too. Once, as a deck hand on a voyage to England, French pirates sunk his ship and he used an oar as a life raft and made his way to Portugal. That turned out to be a fortunate event, for Portugal at the time was a center for overseas exploration and the young shipwrecked man learned navigation and hydrography.

Sixteen years later he did something that changed the course of history.

Who was he?