Vicente Yáñez Pinzón

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (c. 1462 – after 1514) was a Spanish navigator and explorer. He was the youngest of the Pinzón brothers. In 1492, he joined Christopher Columbus on the first voyage to the New World. Vicente served as the captain of the ship called the Niña. His older brother, Martín Alonso Pinzón, captained another ship named the Pinta. This journey was very important because it was one of the first times Europeans traveled to lands across the ocean, leading to new discoveries and changes in the world.

Personal life

Vicente Yáñez Pinzón was born in Palos de la Frontera, a town on the Atlantic coast of Huelva. He was the youngest of three sons of seaman Martín Pinzón and his wife Mayor Vicente. While the exact year of his birth is not known, it is believed to be around 1462.

Pinzón married twice. First, he married Teresa Rodríguez, and they had two daughters named Ana Rodríguez Pinzón and Juana González Pinzón. Later, he married Ana de Trujillo, sometimes called Ana Núñez de Trujillo.

Pinzón lived in several places during his life. Up until 1492, he stayed in Palos. By 1495, he moved to Moguer. After an unsuccessful voyage from 1499 to 1500, he moved to Seville by 1502, possibly to avoid people he owed money to. The last known record of him is from 1514 in Seville or nearby Triana. While it is thought he died that year, the exact place of his burial is unknown.

Career

In 1499, Vicente Yáñez Pinzón sailed along the coast of South America. He landed at a place called "Praia do Paraíso," which is now part of Cabo de Santo Agostinho in Pernambuco, or possibly even farther north at what is today Fortaleza, the capital of Ceará. He also saw the mouth of the Amazon River and traveled a short distance up it, naming it "Río Santa María de la Mar Dulce." He was the first European to explore this part of the river. Pinzón also is believed to have discovered the Oiapoque River.

Pinzón stayed loyal to his commander and never made any negative comments about Christopher Columbus. In 1505, he was chosen to lead the island of Puerto Rico, which was known to its Taino people as "Borinquén." However, he did not take up this position. In 1508, he sailed to South America again with Juan Díaz de Solís. After 1514, there are no more records of Pinzón.

Legacy

In 1832, scientists named a group of flowering plants Pinzona after Vicente Yáñez Pinzón. These plants belong to the Dilleniaceae family.

There is also a place called Pinzón Island in the Galapagos, named for him and his brother. In 1999, a statue of Pinzón and his brother was put up in Palos de la Frontera, Spain, to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Brazil.