Rafael Perestrello

Rafael Perestrello
Born15th century
Kingdom of Portugal
Died16th century
Kingdom of Portugal
NationalityPortuguese
OccupationExplorer
Known forOne of the first Europeans to reach China by sea during the Age of Discovery.

Rafael Perestrello (fl. 1514–1517) was a Portuguese explorer and a cousin of Filipa Moniz Perestrello, the wife of explorer Christopher Columbus.[1] He is best known for landing on the southern shores of mainland China in 1516 and 1517 to trade in Guangzhou (then romanized as "Canton"),[2] after the Portuguese explorer Jorge Álvares landed on Lintin Island within the Pearl River estuary in May 1513.[3] Rafael also served as a trader and naval ship captain for the Portuguese in Sumatra and Portuguese-conquered Malacca.

João de Barros (1496–1570) wrote that Rafael Perestrello almost became lost while sailing by the Andaman Islands, but ventured safely through territory that was rumored to be inhabited by native cannibals.[4]

  1. ^ Brook, 124.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference pfoundes 89 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference cambridge 336 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Dion, 162.