EXPLORER

Pedro Mascarenhas

1484 - 1555

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D. Pedro Mascarenhas (1480 – 16 June 1555) was a Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. He was the first European to discover the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean in 1512. He also encountered the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius in 1512, although he may not have been the first Portuguese explorer to do so; earlier expeditions by Diogo Dias and Afonso de Albuquerque along with Diogo Fernandes Pereira may have encountered the islands. In 1528 explorer Diogo Rodrigues (after whom the island of Rodrigues is named) named the islands of Réunion, Mauritius, and Rodrigues the Mascarene Islands, after the name of Mascarenhas. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Pedro Mascarenhas is the 141st most popular explorer (up from 152nd in 2019), the 130th most popular biography from Portugal (up from 144th in 2019) and the 15th most popular Portuguese Explorer.

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Among EXPLORERS

Among explorers, Pedro Mascarenhas ranks 141 out of 498. Before him are Mikhail Lazarev, João Vaz Corte-Real, Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, George W. De Long, Philip Johan von Strahlenberg, and Ranulph Fiennes. After him are Adam Olearius, Afanasy Nikitin, Sir John Barrow, 1st Baronet, Gan Ying, Samuel Wallis, and Semyon Dezhnev.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1484, Pedro Mascarenhas ranks 12. Before him are Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, Sebastian Cabot, Matteo Bandello, Joachim I Nestor, Elector of Brandenburg, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. After him are Michele Sanmicheli, Jón Arason, Il Pordenone, Pedro de Toledo y Zúñiga, Estêvão Gomes, and Franciabigio. Among people deceased in 1555, Pedro Mascarenhas ranks 9. Before him are Pope Marcellus II, Georgius Agricola, Henry II of Navarre, Kara Ahmed Pasha, Jacob Clemens non Papa, and Elizabeth of Denmark, Electress of Brandenburg. After him are Gemma Frisius, Oronce Finé, Luís of Portugal, Duke of Beja, Thomas of Villanova, Heinrich Aldegrever, and Agnes of Hesse.

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In Portugal

Among people born in Portugal, Pedro Mascarenhas ranks 130 out of 633. Before him are Peter, Duke of Coimbra (1392), João Vaz Corte-Real (1420), Eleanor of Viseu (1458), Infanta Maria Francisca of Braganza (1800), António Ramalho Eanes (1935), and Américo Tomás (1894). After him are Infanta Maria of Guimarães (1538), Luís Fróis (1532), Artur Jorge (1946), Al-Mu'tamid ibn Abbad (1040), Infanta Benedita of Portugal (1746), and Maria of Portugal, Queen of Castile (1313).

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Among EXPLORERS In Portugal

Among explorers born in Portugal, Pedro Mascarenhas ranks 15. Before him are Diego Columbus (1479), Tristão da Cunha (1460), Pedro Fernandes de Queirós (1565), João Gonçalves Zarco (1390), Fernão Mendes Pinto (1509), and João Vaz Corte-Real (1420). After him are Gil Eanes (null), Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499), António de Abreu (1480), Filipa Moniz Perestrelo (1455), Gaspar Corte-Real (1450), and Jorge Álvares (1401).

Portuguese born Explorers

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