AMERIGO Vespucci, the man after whom America was named, died 500 years ago this week. The Italian explorer, financier, navigator and cartographer made at least three voyages to the New World, and became Spain's chief of navigation. Vespucci was born in 1454 and raised in Florence. He was hired as a clerk by the Florentine commercial house of Medici and became a provisions contractor for expeditions to the Indies. At the invitation of King Manuel I of Portugal, Vespucci took part as an observer in voyages that explored the east coast of South America between 1499 and 1502.
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